meidevsMeileWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: meide is a verb, Meile is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“meide” is a verb and “Meile” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,897
“meide” frequency rank
#15,698
“Meile” frequency rank
54595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature meide Meile
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs meiden Längenmaß in der Größenordnung von 1 bis 11 Kilometer, früher in Deutschland und Österreich etwa 7,5 Kilometer entsprechend, noch heute offiziell im Vereinigten Königreich und in den Vereinigten Staaten (1,609 Kilometer) sowie inoffiziell noch in Norwegen und Schweden (10 Kilometer)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set meide and Meile apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
meide
5 ch
Meile

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: meide is [ˈmaɪ̯də] while Meile is [ˈmaɪ̯lə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “meide” becomes l in “Meile”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

meide is recorded at frequency rank #38,897, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯də]. Meile is at rank #15,698, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯lə].

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 54595, this pair ranks #1,012,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of meide vs Meile

Shared letters: eim. Private to "meide": d. Private to "Meile": l.

"meide" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Meile" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • meideemide · medie · meidde · meied · miede · mmeide
  • Meileemile · meiel · meille · melie · miele · mmeile

Frequency comparison

meide#38,897
Meile#15,698

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "meide" and "Meile" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "meide" is a verb and "Meile" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "meide" or "Meile"?
"Meile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,698 in our German list, against #38,897 for "meide". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering meide vs Meile

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “meide”; for a noun, it's “Meile”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “meide” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list