laborvslarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,763
“labor” frequency rank
#40,323
“lar” frequency rank
42086
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature labor lar
Definition Alternative spelling of labour. singular of lares: a household god, particularly overseeing the family itself.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set labor and lar apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
labor
3 ch
lar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. labor (/ˈleɪ.bɚ/) and lar (/lɑː/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

labor is recorded at frequency rank #1,763, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.bɚ/. lar is at rank #40,323, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɑː/.

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 42086, this pair ranks #252,417 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of labor vs lar

Shared letters: alr. Private to "labor": bo. Private to "lar": -.

"labor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lar" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • laboralbor · labbor · laborr · labro · laobr · lbaor · llabor

Frequency comparison

labor#1,763
lar#40,323

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "labor" and "lar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈleɪ.bɚ/ versus /lɑː/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "labor" or "lar"?
"labor" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,763 in our English list, against #40,323 for "lar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering labor vs lar

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 “labor” 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