Which to use
“thyme” and “thymus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,628
- “thyme” frequency rank
- #48,528
- “thymus” frequency rank
- 75156
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thyme | thymus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any plant of the labiate genus Thymus, such as garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris), a warm, pungent aromatic, that is much used to give a relish to seasoning and soups. | Ellipsis of thymus gland (“A ductless gland, consisting mainly of lymphatic tissue, located behind the top of the breastbone. It is most active during puberty, after which it shrinks in size. It plays an important role in the development of the immune system and produces lymphocytes.”). |
Where the eye mixes thyme and thymus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses thyme with thymus
A purely visual mix-up. thyme (/taɪm/) and thymus (/ˈθaɪ.məs/) 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 75156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thyme is recorded at frequency rank #26,628, classified as anoun, pronounced /taɪm/. thymus is at rank #48,528, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈθaɪ.məs/.
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 75156, this pair ranks #34,010 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of thyme vs thymus
Shared letters: hmty. Private to "thyme": e. Private to "thymus": su.
"thyme" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "thymus" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "thyme" for "thymus" ever safe?
Which is more common, "thyme" or "thymus"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "thyme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "thymus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #34,010 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thyme" and "thymus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Thule vs thyme". 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 #34,010 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.