MatzevsMäzenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#48,323
“Matze” frequency rank
#42,696
“Mäzen” frequency rank
91019
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Matze Mäzen
Definition ungesäuertes Fladenbrot, welches während der Passahzeit gegessen wird vermögende Privatperson, die Kunst, Künstler oder künstlerische Tätigkeiten mit Geld unterstützt, ohne einen direkten Gegenwert zu erwarten; vergleichbar mit einem Sponsor

Where the eye mixes Matze and Mäzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Matze (CVCCV) and Mäzen (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Matze
5 ch
Mäzen

Visual trap between Matze and Mäzen

A purely visual mix-up. Matze ([ˈmat͡sə]) and Mäzen ([mɛˈt͡seːn]) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Matze is recorded at frequency rank #48,323, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmat͡sə]. Mäzen is at rank #42,696, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɛˈt͡seːn].

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 91019, this pair ranks #41,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Matze vs Mäzen

Shared letters: emz. Private to "Matze": at. Private to "Mäzen": nä.

"Matze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Mäzen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Matze ← amtze · matez · mattze · matzze · mazte · mmatze · mtaze

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Matze" and "Mäzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmat͡sə] versus [mɛˈt͡seːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Matze" or "Mäzen"?
"Mäzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,696 in our German list, against #48,323 for "Matze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Matze" and "Mäzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Matze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mäzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #41,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Matze" and "Mäzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Matze vs Mette". 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 #41,557 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