MaulvsmazeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,537
“Maul” frequency rank
#44,065
“maze” frequency rank
48602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Maul maze
Definition Körperöffnung bei Tieren, durch die Nahrung aufgenommen wird Irrgarten oder ein Gewirr wie ein Irrgarten

Where the eye mixes Maul and maze

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

4 ch
Maul
4 ch
maze

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Maul ([maʊ̯l]) and maze ([meɪz]) 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 48602, 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]. maze is at rank #44,065, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meɪz].

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 48602, this pair ranks #1,242,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Maul vs maze

Shared letters: am. Private to "Maul": lu. Private to "maze": ez.

"Maul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "maze" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Maulamul · maull · mmaul · mual
  • mazeamze · maez · mazze · mmaze · mzae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Maul" and "maze" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maʊ̯l] versus [meɪz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Maul" or "maze"?
"Maul" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,537 in our German list, against #44,065 for "maze". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list