Which to use
“Laban” is a name and “labor” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,319
- “Laban” frequency rank
- #1,763
- “labor” frequency rank
- 42082
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Laban | labor |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The brother of Rebekah and uncle of Jacob and Esau. | Alternative spelling of labour. |
Where the eye mixes Laban and labor
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Laban vs labor
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Laban is /ˈlɑːbən/ while labor is /ˈleɪ.bɚ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Laban is recorded at frequency rank #40,319, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈlɑːbən/. labor is at rank #1,763, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.bɚ/.
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 42082, this pair ranks #252,454 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Laban vs labor
Shared letters: abl. Private to "Laban": n. Private to "labor": or.
"Laban" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "labor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Laban" for "labor" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Laban" or "labor"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Laban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "labor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #252,454 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Laban" and "labor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Laban vs Lucan". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #252,454 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.