rigour

> rigour and rigor
rigour and rigor are liable to be confused. They look similar but they have completely different meanings. Rigour means "severity, strictness", as in "the rigour of the punishment", and "harshness, unpleasantness", as in "the rigour of the climate" (in this sense it is often in the plural, rigours), and "strictness, detailedness", as in "the rigour of the editing". Rigor is a medical term meaning "rigidity", as in "muscles affected by rigor", or "a feeling of chilliness often accompanied by feverishness", as in "infectious diseases of which rigor is one of the symptoms". Rigor is also short for rigor mortis, meaning "the stiffening of the body that occurs after death". The first syllable of rigour is pronounced to rhyme with "big", but rigor can be pronounced either in this way or with the i pronounced as in "ride".