Riband or ribbon?
riband is a noun meaning “A narrow diminutive of the bend, thinner than a bendlet”; ribbon is a noun meaning “A long, narrow strip of material used for decoration of clothing or the hair or…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) ribbon is about 52 times as common as riband.
What is the difference between riband and ribbon?
| riband | ribbon | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, verb |
| Meaning | A narrow diminutive of the bend, thinner than a bendlet | A long, narrow strip of material used for decoration of clothing or the hair or gift wrapping An awareness ribbon To decorate with ribbon |
| Example | none recorded | a steel or magnesium ribbon |
| Forms | ribands | ribbons |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈɹɪbən/ |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words | 6.5 times per million words |
Sources: riband and ribbon in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of riband and ribbon
riband
- 1
A narrow diminutive of the bend, thinner than a bendlet
ribbon
- 1
A long, narrow strip of material used for decoration of clothing or the hair or gift wrapping
- 2
To decorate with ribbon
- 3
An awareness ribbon
- 4
To stripe or streak
- 5
An inked strip of material against which type is pressed to print letters in a typewriter or printer
- 6
A narrow strip or shred
a steel or magnesium ribbon
- 7
In ice cream and similar confections, an ingredient (often chocolate, butterscotch, caramel, or fudge) added in a long narrow strip
- 8
Alternative form of ribband
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, riband or ribbon?
riband appears about once in every 8 million words; ribbon 6.5 times per million words.
riband about once in every 8 million wordsribbon 6.5 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).