Which to use
“mailen” and “meiden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,065
- “mailen” frequency rank
- #11,482
- “meiden” frequency rank
- 60547
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mailen | meiden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine E-Mail versenden, schicken | etwas dafür tun, einer Person oder Sache nicht zu begegnen |
Where the eye mixes mailen and meiden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mailen and meiden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between mailen and meiden
A purely visual mix-up. mailen ([ˈmɛɪ̯lən]) and meiden ([ˈmaɪ̯dn̩]) 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 60547, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mailen is recorded at frequency rank #49,065, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛɪ̯lən]. meiden is at rank #11,482, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯dn̩].
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 60547, this pair ranks #782,916 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mailen vs meiden
Shared letters: eimn. Private to "mailen": al. Private to "meiden": d.
"mailen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "meiden" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mailen" and "meiden" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mailen" or "meiden"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mailen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "meiden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #782,916 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mailen" and "meiden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Madsen vs mailen". 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 #782,916 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.