veritasvsverityWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,575
“veritas” frequency rank
#36,390
“verity” frequency rank
71965
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature veritas verity
Definition Truth, particularly of a transcendent character. Truth, fact or reality, especially an enduring religious or ethical truth; veracity.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set veritas and verity apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
veritas
6 ch
verity

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. veritas (/ˈvɛɹɪtɑːs/) and verity (/ˈvɛɹɪti/) 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 71965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

veritas is recorded at frequency rank #35,575, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɛɹɪtɑːs/. verity is at rank #36,390, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɛɹɪti/.

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 71965, this pair ranks #44,721 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of veritas vs verity

Shared letters: eirtv. Private to "veritas": as. Private to "verity": y.

"veritas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "verity" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • veritasevritas · veirtas · veriats · veritass · veritsa · verittas · verritas · vertias
  • verityevrity · veirty · veritty · verityy · veriyt · verrity · vertiy · vreity

Frequency comparison

veritas#35,575
verity#36,390

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "veritas" and "verity" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈvɛɹɪtɑːs/ versus /ˈvɛɹɪti/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "veritas" or "verity"?
"veritas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,575 in our English list, against #36,390 for "verity". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering veritas vs verity

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 “veritas” 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