discover vs discovery, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“discover” is a verb and “discovery” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,318
“discover” frequency rank: #17,488
“discovery” frequency rank: 61806
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	discover	discovery
Definition	descobrir	descobrimento, descoberta

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set discover and discovery apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

discover

9 ch

discovery

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: discover is /dɪsˈkʌvə/; /dɪsˈkʊvə/ while discovery is /dɪsˈkʌ.və.ɹi/, /-ˈkʌv.ɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “discover” sits inside “discovery”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61806, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

discover is recorded at frequency rank #44,318, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪsˈkʌvə/; /dɪsˈkʊvə/. discovery is at rank #17,488, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪsˈkʌ.və.ɹi/, /-ˈkʌv.ɹi/.

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 61806, this pair ranks #6,956 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of discover vs discovery

Shared letters: cdeiorsv. Private to "discover": -. Private to "discovery": y.

"discover" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "discovery" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

discover ← ddiscover · dicsover · disccover · discoevr · discoverr · discovre · discovver · discvoer
discovery ← ddiscovery · dicsovery · disccovery · discoevry · discoverry · discoveryy · discoveyr · discovrey

Frequency comparison

discover#44,318

discovery#17,488

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "discover" and "discovery" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "discover" or "discovery"?

"discovery" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,488 in our Portuguese list, against #44,318 for "discover". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering discover vs discovery

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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