AmmevsArmeeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Amme” and “Armee” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,639
“Amme” frequency rank
#1,538
“Armee” frequency rank
43177
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Amme Armee
Definition eine ein fremdes Kind stillende und betreuende Frau bewaffnete Landmacht, Heer, Heeresabteilung

Where the eye mixes Amme and Armee

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Amme runs 4 letters (VCCV) against Armee's 5 (VCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Amme
5 ch
Armee

Visual trap between Amme and Armee

A purely visual mix-up. Amme ([ˈamə]) and Armee ([aʁˈmeː]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43177, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Amme is recorded at frequency rank #41,639, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈamə]. Armee is at rank #1,538, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aʁˈmeː].

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 43177, this pair ranks #1,426,264 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Amme vs Armee

Shared letters: aem. Private to "Amme": -. Private to "Armee": r.

"Amme" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Armee" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Amme ← ame · amem · mame
  • Armee ← amree · areme · armmee · arrmee · ramee

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Amme" and "Armee" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈamə] versus [aʁˈmeː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Amme" or "Armee"?
"Armee" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,538 in our German list, against #41,639 for "Amme". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Amme" and "Armee" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Amme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Armee" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,426,264 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Amme" and "Armee" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Amme vs Atze". 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 #1,426,264 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list