thompson vs Thomson, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“thompson” is a noun and “Thomson” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,268
“thompson” frequency rank: #18,606
“Thomson” frequency rank: 30874
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	thompson	Thomson
Definition	Langue amérindienne de la famille salish parlée au Canada.	Ancien groupe français spécialisé dans les équipements de production et de distribution d'électricité, puis dans la fabrication de matériels électroniques et audiovisuels.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set thompson and Thomson apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

thompson

7 ch

Thomson

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thompson is \tɔmp.sɔn\ while Thomson is \tɔm.sɔn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

thompson is recorded at frequency rank #12,268, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɔmp.sɔn\. Thomson is at rank #18,606, tagged as aname, pronounced \tɔm.sɔn\.

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 30874, this pair ranks #307,453 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of thompson vs Thomson

Shared letters: hmnost. Private to "thompson": p. Private to "Thomson": -.

"thompson" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC · "Thomson" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

thompson ← htompson · thhompson · thmopson · thommpson · thomposn · thomppson · thompsno · thompsonn
Thomson ← htomson · thhomson · thmoson · thommson · thomosn · thomsno · thomsonn · thomsson

Frequency comparison

thompson#12,268

Thomson#18,606

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "thompson" and "Thomson" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "thompson" is a noun and "Thomson" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "thompson" or "Thomson"?

"thompson" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,268 in our French list, against #18,606 for "Thomson". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering thompson vs Thomson

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “thompson”; for a name, it's “Thomson”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “thompson” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable