remainsvsromaineWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,672
“remains” frequency rank
#45,056
“romaine” frequency rank
46728
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature remains romaine
Definition The body or any of its matter that are left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse. Ellipsis of romaine lettuce (“a type of lettuce having long crisp leaves forming a slender head”).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set remains and romaine apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
remains
7 ch
romaine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. remains (/ɹɪˈmeɪnz/) and romaine (/ɹoʊˈmeɪn/) 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 46728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

remains is recorded at frequency rank #1,672, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈmeɪnz/. romaine is at rank #45,056, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹoʊˈmeɪn/.

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 46728, this pair ranks #209,032 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of remains vs romaine

Shared letters: aeimnr. Private to "remains": s. Private to "romaine": o.

"remains" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC  ·  "romaine" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • remainsermains · reamins · remainns · remainss · remaisn · remanis · remians · remmains
  • romaineormaine · rmoaine · roamine · romaien · romainne · romanie · romiane · rommaine

Frequency comparison

remains#1,672
romaine#45,056

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "remains" and "romaine" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹɪˈmeɪnz/ versus /ɹoʊˈmeɪn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "remains" or "romaine"?
"remains" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,672 in our English list, against #45,056 for "romaine". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering remains vs romaine

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 “remains” 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