magmavsmammyWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“magma” and “mammy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#22,735
“magma” frequency rank
#46,044
“mammy” frequency rank
68779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature magma mammy
Definition A mixture of molten silicate rock, crystals, and gas within the earth, which may be erupted as lava or cool in place to form igneous intrusions. mamma; mother

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set magma and mammy apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
magma
5 ch
mammy

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

magma and mammy are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

magma is recorded at frequency rank #22,735, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmæɡ.mə/. mammy is at rank #46,044, tagged as anoun.

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 68779, this pair ranks #57,365 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of magma vs mammy

Shared letters: am. Private to "magma": g. Private to "mammy": y.

"magma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mammy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • magmaamgma · magam · maggma · magmma · mamga · mgama · mmagma
  • mammyammmy · mammyy · mamy · mamym · mmammy · mmamy

Frequency comparison

magma#22,735
mammy#46,044

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "magma" and "mammy" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "magma" or "mammy"?
"magma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,735 in our English list, against #46,044 for "mammy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering magma vs mammy

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “magma” 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