Which to use
“tome” and “tum” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,247
- “tome” frequency rank
- #26,641
- “tum” frequency rank
- 48888
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tome | tum |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One in a series of volumes. | shortened form of tummy |
Where the eye mixes tome and tum
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. tome (/təʊm/) and tum (/tʌm/) 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 48888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tome is recorded at frequency rank #22,247, classified as anoun, pronounced /təʊm/. tum is at rank #26,641, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tʌm/.
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 48888, this pair ranks #188,827 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tome vs tum
Shared letters: mt. Private to "tome": eo. Private to "tum": u.
"tome" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tum" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tome ← otme · tmoe · toem · tomme · ttome