medianvsMethanWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: median is a adjective, Methan is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“median” is an adjective and “Methan” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,237
“median” frequency rank
#27,415
“Methan” frequency rank
56652
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature median Methan
Definition in der Mitte/Mittellinie eines Organs oder Körpers gelegen farb- und geruchlose, brennbare Gasverbindung, deren Moleküle aus einem Kohlenstoff- und vier Wasserstoffatomen bestehen

Where the eye mixes median and Methan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. median (CVCVVC) and Methan (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
median
6 ch
Methan

Visual trap between median and Methan

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: median is [meˈdi̯aːn] while Methan is [meˈtaːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

median is recorded at frequency rank #29,237, classified as anadj, pronounced [meˈdi̯aːn]. Methan is at rank #27,415, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meˈtaːn].

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 56652, this pair ranks #931,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of median vs Methan

Shared letters: aemn. Private to "median": di. Private to "Methan": ht.

"median" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "Methan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • median ← emdian · mdeian · medain · meddian · mediann · meidan · mmedian
  • Methan ← emthan · mehtan · metahn · methann · methhan · methna · metthan · mmethan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "median" for "Methan" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "median" is an adjective and "Methan" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "median" vs "Methan" - which ranks higher?
"Methan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,415 in our German list, against #29,237 for "median". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "median" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Methan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #931,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "median" and "Methan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Medi vs median". 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 #931,986 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