Which to use
“Maul” and “Mehl” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,537
- “Maul” frequency rank
- #9,773
- “Mehl” frequency rank
- 14310
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Maul | Mehl |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Körperöffnung bei Tieren, durch die Nahrung aufgenommen wird | meist aus gemahlenen Getreidekörnern gewonnenes pulverförmiges Produkt |
Where the eye mixes Maul and Mehl
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Maul with Mehl
A purely visual mix-up. Maul ([maʊ̯l]) and Mehl ([meːl]) 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 14310, 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]. Mehl is at rank #9,773, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meːl].
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 14310, this pair ranks #1,952,099 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Maul vs Mehl
Shared letters: lm. Private to "Maul": au. Private to "Mehl": eh.
"Maul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "Mehl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Maul" for "Mehl" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Maul" or "Mehl" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Maul" and "Mehl" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Maul" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Mehl" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,952,099 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Maul" and "Mehl" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mehl vs Memel". 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 #1,952,099 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.