Which to use
“Maden” and “Mäzen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,673
- “Maden” frequency rank
- #42,696
- “Mäzen” frequency rank
- 74369
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Maden | Mäzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Made | vermögende Privatperson, die Kunst, Künstler oder künstlerische Tätigkeiten mit Geld unterstützt, ohne einen direkten Gegenwert zu erwarten; vergleichbar mit einem Sponsor |
Where the eye mixes Maden and Mäzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Maden and Mäzen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Maden with Mäzen
A purely visual mix-up. Maden ([ˈmaːdn̩]) and Mäzen ([mɛˈt͡seːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Maden is recorded at frequency rank #31,673, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaːdn̩]. Mäzen is at rank #42,696, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɛˈt͡seːn].
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 74369, this pair ranks #335,299 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Maden vs Mäzen
Shared letters: emn. Private to "Maden": ad. Private to "Mäzen": zä.
"Maden" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Mäzen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Maden ← amden · madden · madenn · madne · maedn · mdaen · mmaden
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Maden" and "Mäzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Maden" vs "Mäzen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Maden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Mäzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #335,299 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Maden" and "Mäzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mailen vs Mäzen". 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 #335,299 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.