carbon and carton differ by a single letter, buried far enough into the word to be easy to miss. carbon means “an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds”. carton means “the quantity contained in a carton”. carbon is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈkɑɹbən/
1.n.an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds
2.n.a thin paper coated on one side with a dark waxy substance (often containing carbon); used to transfer characters from the original to an under sheet of paper
3.n.a copy made with carbon paper
| carbon | carton | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɑɹbən/ | /ˈkɑɹtən/ |
| Said | KAHR-buhn | KAHR-tuhn |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| Letters | 6 | 6 |
| Parts of speech | noun | noun |
| Senses | 3 | 2 |
| How common | Common | Familiar |
| Synonyms | C, atomic number 6 | cartonful |
Full entry for carbon · Full entry for carton · More comparisons
/ˈkɑɹtən/
1.n.the quantity contained in a carton
2.n.a box made of cardboard; opens by flaps on top