servervsservoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,259
“server” frequency rank
#33,014
“servo” frequency rank
36273
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature server servo
Definition A program that provides services to other programs or devices, either in the same computer or over a computer network. A servomechanism.

Where the eye mixes server and servo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
server
5 ch
servo

Look-alike desk: server vs servo

A purely visual mix-up. server (/ˈsɜːvə/) and servo (/ˈsɜː.vəʊ/) 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 36273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

server is recorded at frequency rank #3,259, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɜːvə/. servo is at rank #33,014, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɜː.vəʊ/.

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 36273, this pair ranks #304,537 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of server vs servo

Shared letters: ersv. Private to "server": -. Private to "servo": o.

"server" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "servo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • serveresrver · serevr · serrver · serverr · servre · servver · sevrer · srever
  • servoesrvo · serov · serrvo · servvo · sevro · srevo · sservo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "server" and "servo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsɜːvə/ versus /ˈsɜː.vəʊ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "server" or "servo" show up more?
"server" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,259 in our English list, against #33,014 for "servo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "server" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "servo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #304,537 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "server" and "servo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "serif vs servo". 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 #304,537 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list