Which to use
“lem” and “lemon” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,348
- “lem” frequency rank
- #33,756
- “lemon” frequency rank
- 74104
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lem | lemon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Membre, partie du corps. | Citron jaune. |
Letter map: lem vs lemon
Shared letters muted; letters that set lem and lemon apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Pair insight - lem / lemon
lem and lemon are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “lem” sits inside “lemon”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74104, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lem is recorded at frequency rank #40,348, classified as anoun. lemon is at rank #33,756, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈlɛm.ən\.
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 74104, this pair ranks #38,233 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lem vs lemon
Shared letters: elm. Private to "lem": -. Private to "lemon": no.
"lem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lemon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lemon ← elmon · lemmon · lemno · lemonn · leomn · llemon · lmeon
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lem" and "lemon" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lem" or "lemon"?
Useful next steps
You've compared "lem" and "lemon". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "lem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lemon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #38,233 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lem" and "lemon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lem vs lep". 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 #38,233 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.