MarkvsMaulTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,703
“Mark” frequency rank
#4,537
“Maul” frequency rank
6240
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mark Maul
Definition historische Gewichts- bzw. Masseneinheit, die ab dem 11. Jahrhundert das Pfund als Edelmetall- und Münzgewicht verdrängte. Die Mark ist traditionell ein halbes Pfund und wurde üblicherweise in 8 Unzen oder 16 Lot eingeteilt Körperöffnung bei Tieren, durch die Nahrung aufgenommen wird

Where the eye mixes Mark and Maul

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Mark (CVCC) and Maul (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Mark
4 ch
Maul

Why the eye confuses Mark with Maul

A purely visual mix-up. Mark ([maʁk]) and Maul ([maʊ̯l]) 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 6240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mark is recorded at frequency rank #1,703, classified as anoun, pronounced [maʁk]. Maul is at rank #4,537, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maʊ̯l].

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 6240, this pair ranks #1,992,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Mark vs Maul

Shared letters: am. Private to "Mark": kr. Private to "Maul": lu.

"Mark" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Maul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Markamrk · makr · markk · marrk · mmark · mrak
  • Maulamul · maull · mmaul · mual

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Mark" and "Maul" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maʁk] versus [maʊ̯l]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Mark" or "Maul"?
"Mark" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,703 in our German list, against #4,537 for "Maul". 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 "Mark" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Maul" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,992,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mark" and "Maul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs Maul". 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 #1,992,266 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