MaulvsmayoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,537
“Maul” frequency rank
#21,352
“mayo” frequency rank
25889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Maul mayo
Definition Körperöffnung bei Tieren, durch die Nahrung aufgenommen wird fünfter Monat des Jahres im gregorianischen Kalender; Mai

Where the eye mixes Maul and mayo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Maul
4 ch
mayo

Look-alike desk: Maul vs mayo

A purely visual mix-up. Maul ([maʊ̯l]) and mayo ([ˈmaʝo]) 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 25889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Maul is recorded at frequency rank #4,537, classified as anoun, pronounced [maʊ̯l]. mayo is at rank #21,352, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaʝo].

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 25889, this pair ranks #1,826,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Maul vs mayo

Shared letters: am. Private to "Maul": lu. Private to "mayo": oy.

"Maul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "mayo" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Maulamul · maull · mmaul · mual
  • mayoamyo · maoy · mayyo · mmayo · myao

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Maul" and "mayo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maʊ̯l] versus [ˈmaʝo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Maul" vs "mayo" - which ranks higher?
"Maul" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,537 in our German list, against #21,352 for "mayo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Maul" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mayo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,826,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Maul" and "mayo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs mayo". 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 #1,826,457 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