LEMvslemurWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,810
“LEM” frequency rank
#48,861
“lemur” frequency rank
84671
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature LEM lemur
Definition Originally Lunar Excursion Module, latterly Lunar Module. Any strepsirrhine primate of the superfamily Lemuroidea, native only to Madagascar and some surrounding islands.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
LEM
5 ch
lemur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

LEM and lemur are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “LEM” sits inside “lemur”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

LEM is recorded at frequency rank #35,810, classified as anoun. lemur is at rank #48,861, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈliːmə(ɹ)/.

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 84671, this pair ranks #11,672 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of LEM vs lemur

Shared letters: elm. Private to "LEM": -. Private to "lemur": ru.

"LEM" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lemur" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lemurelmur · lemmur · lemru · lemurr · leumr · llemur · lmeur

Frequency comparison

LEM#35,810
lemur#48,861

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "LEM" and "lemur" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “LEM” sits inside “lemur”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "LEM" or "lemur"?
"LEM" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,810 in our English list, against #48,861 for "lemur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering LEM vs lemur

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 “LEM” 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