labiavslarvaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,725
“labia” frequency rank
#29,341
“larva” frequency rank
71066
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature labia larva
Definition The folds of tissue of the vulva, at either side of the vulval vestibule. An early stage of growth for some insects and amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and amphibians lack limbs and resemble fish.

Where the eye mixes labia and larva

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. labia (CVCVV) and larva (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
labia
5 ch
larva

Visual trap between labia and larva

A purely visual mix-up. labia (/ˈleɪ.bi.ə/) and larva (/ˈlɑː.və/) 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 71066, 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/. larva is at rank #29,341, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɑː.və/.

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 71066, this pair ranks #48,128 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of labia vs larva

Shared letters: al. Private to "labia": bi. Private to "larva": rv.

"labia" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "larva" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • labia ← albia · labai · labbia · laiba · lbaia · llabia
  • larva ← alrva · larav · larrva · larvva · lavra · llarva · lrava

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "labia" and "larva" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈleɪ.bi.ə/ versus /ˈlɑː.və/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "labia" or "larva" show up more?
"larva" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,341 in our English list, against #41,725 for "labia". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "labia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "larva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,128 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "labia" and "larva" 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 #48,128 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list