limavslistWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,379
“lima” frequency rank
#531
“list” frequency rank
13910
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lima list
Definition Lima bean. A strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth.

Where the eye mixes lima and list

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lima
4 ch
list

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lima (/ˈlaɪmə/) and list (/lɪst/) 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 13910, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lima is recorded at frequency rank #13,379, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlaɪmə/. list is at rank #531, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɪst/.

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 13910, this pair ranks #473,172 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lima vs list

Shared letters: il. Private to "lima": am. Private to "list": st.

"lima" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "list" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • limailma · limma · llima · lmia
  • listilst · lisst · listt · lits · llist · lsit

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lima" and "list" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlaɪmə/ versus /lɪst/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lima" or "list"?
"list" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #531 in our English list, against #13,379 for "lima". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "lima" and "list". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lima" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "list" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #473,172 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lima" and "list" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lima vs Lora". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list