recipevsresideWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: recipe is a noun, reside is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“recipe” is a noun and “reside” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,886
“recipe” frequency rank
#11,781
“reside” frequency rank
16667
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recipe reside
Definition A formula for preparing or using a medicine; a prescription; also, a medicine prepared from such instructions. To dwell permanently or for a considerable time; to have a settled abode for a time; to remain for a long time.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set recipe and reside apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
recipe
6 ch
reside

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: recipe is /ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/ while reside is /ɹɪˈzaɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recipe is recorded at frequency rank #4,886, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/. reside is at rank #11,781, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈzaɪd/.

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 16667, this pair ranks #456,309 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of recipe vs reside

Shared letters: eir. Private to "recipe": cp. Private to "reside": ds.

"recipe" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "reside" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recipeercipe · rceipe · reccipe · reciep · recippe · recpie · reicpe · rrecipe
  • resideerside · reisde · resdie · residde · resied · resside · rreside · rseide

Frequency comparison

recipe#4,886
reside#11,781

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recipe" and "reside" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "recipe" is a noun and "reside" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "recipe" or "reside"?
"recipe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,886 in our English list, against #11,781 for "reside". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering recipe vs reside

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “recipe”; for a verb, it's “reside”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “recipe” 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