tarovstassWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,374
“taro” frequency rank
#46,807
“tass” frequency rank
78181
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature taro tass
Definition Colocasia esculenta, raised as a food primarily for its corm, which distantly resembles potato. A heap, pile.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set taro and tass apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
taro
4 ch
tass

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. taro (/ˈtæɹəʊ/) and tass (/tæs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78181, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

taro is recorded at frequency rank #31,374, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtæɹəʊ/. tass is at rank #46,807, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tæs/.

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 78181, this pair ranks #25,258 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of taro vs tass

Shared letters: at. Private to "taro": or. Private to "tass": s.

"taro" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • taroatro · taor · tarro · trao · ttaro
  • tassatss · tas · tsas · ttass

Frequency comparison

taro#31,374
tass#46,807

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "taro" and "tass" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈtæɹəʊ/ versus /tæs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "taro" or "tass"?
"taro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,374 in our English list, against #46,807 for "tass". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering taro vs tass

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “taro” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list