stabilisevsstabilityTell them apart

Quick tell: stabilise is a verb, stability is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stabilise” is a verb and “stability” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,900
“stabilise” frequency rank
#4,271
“stability” frequency rank
46171
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stabilise stability
Definition Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of stabilize. The condition of being stable or in equilibrium, and thus resistant to change.

Letter map: stabilise vs stability

Shared letters muted; letters that set stabilise and stability apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.

9 ch
stabilise
9 ch
stability

Role in the sentence - stabilise and stability

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: stabilise is averb and stabilityanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stabilise is recorded at frequency rank #41,900, classified as averb. stability is at rank #4,271, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stəˈbɪlɪti/.

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 46171, this pair ranks #214,268 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stabilise vs stability

Shared letters: abilst. Private to "stabilise": e. Private to "stability": y.

"stabilise" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV  ·  "stability" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stabilisesatbilise · sstabilise · stabbilise · stabiilse · stabilies · stabilisse · stabillise · stabilsie
  • stabilitysatbility · sstability · stabbility · stabiilty · stabilitty · stabilityy · stabiliyt · stabillity

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "stabilise" for "stability" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stabilise" is a verb and "stability" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "stabilise" or "stability" show up more?
"stability" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,271 in our English list, against #41,900 for "stabilise". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "stabilise" and "stability".

  • Full dictionary entry for "stabilise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stability" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #214,268 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stabilise" and "stability" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stabilise vs stabilizer". 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 #214,268 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