Which to use
“maim” is a verb and “Maine” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,918
- “maim” frequency rank
- #5,517
- “Maine” frequency rank
- 50435
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maim | Maine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body. | A former province of Pays de la Loire, France. Capital: Le Mans. |
Where the eye mixes maim and Maine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. maim runs 4 letters (CVVC) against Maine's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between maim and Maine
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maim is /meɪm/ while Maine is /mɛn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maim is recorded at frequency rank #44,918, classified as averb, pronounced /meɪm/. Maine is at rank #5,517, tagged as aname, pronounced /mɛn/.
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 50435, this pair ranks #174,279 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maim vs Maine
Shared letters: aim. Private to "maim": -. Private to "Maine": en.
"maim" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "Maine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maim" and "Maine" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "maim" vs "Maine" - which ranks higher?
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 "maim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Maine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #174,279 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maim" and "Maine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maim vs marl". 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 #174,279 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.