oathvsothWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,587
“oath” frequency rank
#39,944
“oth” frequency rank
47531
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature oath oth
Definition A solemn pledge or promise that invokes a deity, a ruler, or another entity (not necessarily present) to attest the truth of a statement or sincerity of one's desire to fulfill a contract or promise. Obsolete spelling of oath.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
oath
3 ch
oth

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

oath and oth 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47531, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oath is recorded at frequency rank #7,587, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈəʊθ/. oth is at rank #39,944, tagged as anoun.

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 47531, this pair ranks #201,608 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of oath vs oth

Shared letters: hot. Private to "oath": a. Private to "oth": -.

"oath" · 4 letters · shape VVCC  ·  "oth" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • oathaoth · oaht · oathh · oatth · otah

Frequency comparison

oath#7,587
oth#39,944

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "oath" and "oth" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "oath" or "oth"?
"oath" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,587 in our English list, against #39,944 for "oth". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering oath vs oth

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 “oath” 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