ICCvsIJWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“ICC” and “IJ” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,257
“ICC” frequency rank
#46,535
“IJ” frequency rank
58792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ICC IJ
Definition Initialism of International Criminal Court. A lake (formerly a bay) adjoining the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ICC and IJ apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ICC
2 ch
IJ

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ICC (/ˈʔajsisi/) and IJ (/eɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ICC is recorded at frequency rank #12,257, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈʔajsisi/. IJ is at rank #46,535, tagged as aname, pronounced /eɪ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 58792, this pair ranks #110,276 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ICC vs IJ

Shared letters: i. Private to "ICC": c. Private to "IJ": j.

"ICC" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "IJ" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequency comparison

ICC#12,257
IJ#46,535

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ICC" and "IJ" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈʔajsisi/ versus /eɪ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ICC" or "IJ"?
"ICC" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,257 in our English list, against #46,535 for "IJ". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ICC vs IJ

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ICC” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list