MalervsMelzerWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Maler is a noun, Melzer is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Maler” is a noun and “Melzer” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,811
“Maler” frequency rank
#44,070
“Melzer” frequency rank
48881
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Maler Melzer
Definition Künstler, der Bilder malt deutscher Nachname, Familienname

Where the eye mixes Maler and Melzer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Maler
6 ch
Melzer

Why the eye confuses Maler with Melzer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Maler is [ˈmaːlɐ] while Melzer is [ˈmɛlt͡sɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Maler is recorded at frequency rank #4,811, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaːlɐ]. Melzer is at rank #44,070, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈmɛlt͡sɐ].

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 48881, this pair ranks #1,232,048 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Maler vs Melzer

Shared letters: elmr. Private to "Maler": a. Private to "Melzer": z.

"Maler" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Melzer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Maleramler · maelr · malerr · maller · malre · mlaer · mmaler
  • Melzeremlzer · melezr · mellzer · melzerr · melzre · melzzer · mezler · mlezer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Maler" and "Melzer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Maler" is a noun and "Melzer" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Maler" vs "Melzer" - which ranks higher?
"Maler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,811 in our German list, against #44,070 for "Melzer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Maler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Melzer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,232,048 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Maler" and "Melzer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Melder vs Melzer". 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 #1,232,048 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