cem

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"cem" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cem” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #40,608) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#40,608
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - cemetery

Corpus desk

Index EN-cem · cem · English

cem · rank #40,608 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #40,608
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH CDL

Nearest frequency peer: CDL (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “cem”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “cem” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cem vs co
33% similar
cem vs CM
0% similar
cem vs CT
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cem
PropertyValue
Headwordcem
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters3
Frequency rank#40,608
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “cem”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).cemlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “CDL” (#40,607), “carpal” (#40,606), “caressing” (#40,605). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cem” is #40,608. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for cem is neighbouring look-alikes ("co", "CM", …), not just typos; it is anoun. Frequency #40,608 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Gloss: "cemetery".

cem doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "co", "CM", "CT", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Shortening. The correct English form is cem, spelled C-E-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    cemetery

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how cem appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I'm planning a trip to the cem next week to gather some genealogical information.

Etymology

Shortening.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cem"?
"cem" is spelled C-E-M.
What does "cem" mean?
As a noun, "cem" means: cemetery
What words are commonly confused with "cem"?
"cem" is commonly confused with "co", "CM", "CT". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "cem"?
Shortening. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cem", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

CDL#40,607CoC#40,621EDA#40,6741v1#40,532

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list