MagenvsmazeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,535
“Magen” frequency rank
#44,065
“maze” frequency rank
48600
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Magen maze
Definition Verdauungsorgan beim Menschen und bei Tieren Irrgarten oder ein Gewirr wie ein Irrgarten

Where the eye mixes Magen and maze

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

5 ch
Magen
4 ch
maze

Visual trap between Magen and maze

A purely visual mix-up. Magen ([ˈmaːɡn̩]) and maze ([meɪz]) 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 48600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Magen is recorded at frequency rank #4,535, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaːɡn̩]. maze is at rank #44,065, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meɪz].

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 48600, this pair ranks #1,242,514 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Magen vs maze

Shared letters: aem. Private to "Magen": gn. Private to "maze": z.

"Magen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "maze" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Magen ← amgen · maegn · magenn · maggen · magne · mgaen · mmagen
  • maze ← amze · maez · mazze · mmaze · mzae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Magen" and "maze" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaːɡn̩] versus [meɪz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Magen" vs "maze" - which ranks higher?
"Magen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,535 in our German list, against #44,065 for "maze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Magen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "maze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,242,514 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Magen" and "maze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Matze vs maze". 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 #1,242,514 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