legionvsLennonWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: legion is a adjective, Lennon is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“legion” is an adjective and “Lennon” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,812
“legion” frequency rank
#13,747
“Lennon” frequency rank
22559
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature legion Lennon
Definition Numerous; vast; very great in number. A surname from Irish, notably of John Lennon (1940–1980), one of the Beatles.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set legion and Lennon apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
legion
6 ch
Lennon

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: legion is /ˈliː.d͡ʒən/ while Lennon is /ˈlɛn.ən/. 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 (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

legion is recorded at frequency rank #8,812, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈliː.d͡ʒən/. Lennon is at rank #13,747, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈlɛn.ən/.

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 22559, this pair ranks #415,696 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of legion vs Lennon

Shared letters: elno. Private to "legion": gi. Private to "Lennon": -.

"legion" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "Lennon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • legionelgion · leggion · legino · legionn · legoin · leigon · lgeion · llegion
  • Lennonelnnon · lennno · lennonn · lenon · lenonn · llennon · lnenon

Frequency comparison

legion#8,812
Lennon#13,747

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "legion" and "Lennon" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "legion" is an adjective and "Lennon" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "legion" or "Lennon"?
"legion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,812 in our English list, against #13,747 for "Lennon". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering legion vs Lennon

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “legion”; for a name, it's “Lennon”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “legion” 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