# span vs star

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### span
*noun · IPA /spæn/ · frequency rank #6,416*
The full width of an open hand from the end of the thumb to the end of the little finger used as an informal unit of length.

### star
*noun · IPA /stɑː(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #666*
Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/span-vs-star