# NEC vs not

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### NEC
*phrase · frequency rank #19,399*
Initialism of not elsewhere classified, used in classification codes such as Standard Industrial Classification, International Standard Classification of Occupations, DSM-IV-TR, DSM-5, ICD-9, and ICD-10.

### not
*adverb · IPA /nɒt/ · frequency rank #23*
Negates the meaning of the modified verb.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/nec-vs-not