Which to use
“record” and “rectory” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #625
- “record” frequency rank
- #33,814
- “rectory” frequency rank
- 34439
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | record | rectory |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An item of information put into a temporary or permanent physical medium. | Any of certain residences for clergy members. |
Where the eye mixes record and rectory
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between record and rectory
A purely visual mix-up. record (/ˈɹɛk.ɔːd/) and rectory (/ˈɹɛktəɹi/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
record is recorded at frequency rank #625, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹɛk.ɔːd/. rectory is at rank #33,814, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹɛktəɹi/.
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 34439, this pair ranks #320,765 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of record vs rectory
Shared letters: ceor. Private to "record": d. Private to "rectory": ty.
"record" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "rectory" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "record" and "rectory" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "record" vs "rectory" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "record" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rectory" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,765 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "record" and "rectory" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rectory vs retry". 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 #320,765 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.