Which to use
“maru” and “mat” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,730
- “maru” frequency rank
- #9,065
- “mat” frequency rank
- 42795
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maru | mat |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A Japanese ship, especially a merchant ship. | A flat piece of coarse material used for wiping one’s feet, or as a decorative or protective floor covering. |
Where the eye mixes maru and mat
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: maru vs mat
A purely visual mix-up. maru (/ˈmɑːɹuː/) and mat (/mæt/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maru is recorded at frequency rank #33,730, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑːɹuː/. mat is at rank #9,065, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mæt/.
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 42795, this pair ranks #246,003 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maru vs mat
Shared letters: am. Private to "maru": ru. Private to "mat": t.
"maru" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mat" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- maru ← amru · marru · maur · mmaru · mrau
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maru" for "mat" ever safe?
Frequency check: "maru" vs "mat" - 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 "maru" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #246,003 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maru" and "mat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Marne vs maru". 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 #246,003 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.