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 eye mixes discover and discovery
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. discover runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against discovery's 9 (CVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: discover vs discovery
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "discover" and "discovery" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "discover" vs "discovery" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "discover" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "discovery" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,956 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "discover" and "discovery" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "discover vs dissolver". 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 #6,956 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.