Which to use
“Motte” and “Motto” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,677
- “Motte” frequency rank
- #2,984
- “Motto” frequency rank
- 35661
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Motte | Motto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Kleinschmetterling mit etwa 1 cm spannenden schmalen Flügeln, dessen Raupe unter anderem Wolle, Seide, Pelzwerk und Tapeten befällt | eine – oft schlagwortartige – programmatische Aussage, die eine Person, Institution oder Veranstaltung charakterisieren oder prägen soll |
Where the eye mixes Motte and Motto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Motte and Motto
A purely visual mix-up. Motte ([ˈmɔtə]) and Motto ([ˈmɔto]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - e in “Motte” becomes o in “Motto”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Motte is recorded at frequency rank #32,677, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɔtə]. Motto is at rank #2,984, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɔto].
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 35661, this pair ranks #1,634,622 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Motte vs Motto
Shared letters: mot. Private to "Motte": e. Private to "Motto": -.
"Motte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Motto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Motte" and "Motto" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Motte" or "Motto" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Motte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Motto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,634,622 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Motte" and "Motto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Möhre vs Motte". 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 #1,634,622 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.