locusvslogosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#23,026
“locus” frequency rank
#14,356
“logos” frequency rank
37382
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature locus logos
Definition A place or locality, especially a centre of activity or the scene of a crime. A form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker uses logical argument as the main form of persuasion.

Where the eye mixes locus and logos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
locus
5 ch
logos

Visual trap between locus and logos

A purely visual mix-up. locus (/ˈləʊkəs/) and logos (/ˈlɒɡɒs/) 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 37382, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

locus is recorded at frequency rank #23,026, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈləʊkəs/. logos is at rank #14,356, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɒɡɒs/.

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 37382, this pair ranks #295,040 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of locus vs logos

Shared letters: los. Private to "locus": cu. Private to "logos": g.

"locus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "logos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • locuslcous · llocus · loccus · locsu · locuss · loucs · olcus
  • logoslgoos · llogos · loggos · logoss · logso · loogs · olgos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "locus" and "logos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈləʊkəs/ versus /ˈlɒɡɒs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "locus" or "logos"?
"logos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,356 in our English list, against #23,026 for "locus". 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 "locus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "logos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #295,040 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "locus" and "logos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lockup vs locus". 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 #295,040 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