macvsmuTell them apart

Quick tell: mac is a noun, mu is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mac” is a noun and “mu” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,810
“mac” frequency rank
#18,336
“mu” frequency rank
23146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mac mu
Definition weites Kleidungsstück mit Ärmeln, das mindestens bis zu den Knien reicht und wasserdicht ist Genitiv Singular des Personalpronomens mina

Letter map: mac vs mu

Shared letters muted; letters that set mac and mu apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
mac
2 ch
mu

Part-of-speech tell for mac / mu

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mac is anoun and muanunknown. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mac is recorded at frequency rank #4,810, classified as anoun, pronounced [mæk]. mu is at rank #18,336, tagged as anunknown, pronounced […].

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 23146, this pair ranks #1,865,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mac vs mu

Shared letters: m. Private to "mac": ac. Private to "mu": u.

"mac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mu" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mac" and "mu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mac" is a noun and "mu" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "mac" vs "mu" - which ranks higher?
"mac" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,810 in our German list, against #18,336 for "mu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "mac" and "mu". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,865,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mac" and "mu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mu vs puzzles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,865,201 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