What’s the Difference Between Orthopedic and Orthopaedic? Orthopedic and orthopaedic are alternate spellings of the same word. Both words are the adjective form of orthopedics (or orthopaedics), which means the branch of medicine dealing with the skeleton and joints. One spelling is preferred in American English; the other spelling is preferred in British English. Orthopedic is the preferred American English
What’s the Difference Between Buses and Busses? Buses and busses appear to be alternate spellings of the same word, but most style guides advise writers to use just one of them as the plural word for bus. Buses is the plural form of the noun bus, a vehicle which carries many passengers. This is the preferred spelling in all dialects
What’s the Difference Between Semiannual and Biannual? Biannual and semiannual are synonyms, which means that they have the same definition. Although some synonyms are similar with slight differences in implied meaning or usage, these two words are nearly interchangeable. Biannual is an adjective that means happening twice each year. She usually competes in the biannual flower-arranging contest. She won the
What’s the Difference Between Apart and A Part? Apart and a part have the same pronunciation, but they have different definitions and grammatical rules. Therefore, you cannot interchange the two. Apart primarily acts as an adverb that can mean into pieces or separately. It can also be part of the phrasal verb take apart. The young girl loves to take
What is the Difference Between Criteria and Criterion? Criteria and criterion have the same meaning and are simply the plural and singular forms of the same noun, respectively. Criteria is the plural form meaning rules or principles used to judge something. The teacher made sure to tell all the students the criteria that he would use to grade their
What’s the Difference Between Aging and Ageing? These two words are alternate spellings with the same meaning. Which one you use depends on whether or not you are writing in or for North America. Aging is the gerund form, and the progressive form, of the verb to age, meaning to become older. This is the preferred spelling in North American
What’s the Difference Between Dieing and Dying? Dieing and dying might seem like alternate spellings of the same word. However, they are merely homophones, meaning that they have the same pronunciation but different definitions. Dieing is the gerund or progressive form of the verb die, meaning to cut with a die. In this sense, die means a device to cut
What’s the Difference Between Among and Amongst? Among and amongst are two variants of the same preposition. Among means in the middle of or surrounded by. There are places in Costa Rica where you can swim among a pod of dolphins. Amongst has the same meaning but is less common. As the ballerina rested amongst the poppies, visions of grandeur
What’s the Difference Between Catsup and Ketchup? Catsup and ketchup are two alternate spellings of the same word. Catsup is a tomato-based condiment. Excuse me, waiter. Could I please have some catsup for my french fries? Ketchup is the same product as catsup, a tomato-based condiment. I always put ketchup and mustard on my hamburgers. Let’s look at the usage