mayovsmazeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#21,352
“mayo” frequency rank
#44,065
“maze” frequency rank
65417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mayo maze
Definition fünfter Monat des Jahres im gregorianischen Kalender; Mai Irrgarten oder ein Gewirr wie ein Irrgarten

Where the eye mixes mayo and maze

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

4 ch
mayo
4 ch
maze

Visual trap between mayo and maze

A purely visual mix-up. mayo ([ˈmaʝo]) 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 65417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mayo is recorded at frequency rank #21,352, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaʝo]. 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 65417, this pair ranks #607,650 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mayo vs maze

Shared letters: am. Private to "mayo": oy. Private to "maze": ez.

"mayo" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "maze" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mayoamyo · maoy · mayyo · mmayo · myao
  • mazeamze · maez · mazze · mmaze · mzae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mayo" and "maze" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaʝo] versus [meɪz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mayo" vs "maze" - which ranks higher?
"mayo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,352 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mayo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "maze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #607,650 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mayo" and "maze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Matze vs maze". 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 #607,650 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