Which to use
“labia” and “labor” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,725
- “labia” frequency rank
- #1,763
- “labor” frequency rank
- 43488
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | labia | labor |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The folds of tissue of the vulva, at either side of the vulval vestibule. | Alternative spelling of labour. |
Where the eye mixes labia and labor
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. labia (CVCVV) and labor (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses labia with labor
A purely visual mix-up. labia (/ˈleɪ.bi.ə/) and labor (/ˈleɪ.bɚ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
labia is recorded at frequency rank #41,725, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.bi.ə/. 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 43488, this pair ranks #239,543 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of labia vs labor
Shared letters: abl. Private to "labia": i. Private to "labor": or.
"labia" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "labor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "labia" and "labor" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "labia" or "labor" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "labia" and "labor" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "labia" 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 #239,543 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "labia" and "labor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "labia vs Lanza". 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 #239,543 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.