Which to use
“malt” and “meld” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,197
- “malt” frequency rank
- #28,760
- “meld” frequency rank
- 41957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | malt | meld |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs malen | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs melden |
Where the eye mixes malt and meld
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. malt and meld follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: malt vs meld
A purely visual mix-up. malt ([maːlt]) and meld ([mɛlt]) 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 41957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
malt is recorded at frequency rank #13,197, classified as averb, pronounced [maːlt]. meld is at rank #28,760, tagged as averb, pronounced [mɛlt].
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 41957, this pair ranks #1,463,904 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of malt vs meld
Shared letters: lm. Private to "malt": at. Private to "meld": de.
"malt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "meld" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "malt" for "meld" ever safe?
Frequency check: "malt" vs "meld" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "malt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "meld" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,463,904 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "malt" and "meld" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs meld". 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 #1,463,904 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.