# tam vs tarn

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### tam
*noun · IPA /tæm/ · frequency rank #20,245*
Clipping of tam o'shanter, a type of cap.

### tarn
*noun · IPA /tɑːn/ · frequency rank #47,370*
A small mountain lake, especially in Northern England.

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