matevsmythWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,743
“mate” frequency rank
#6,269
“myth” frequency rank
9012
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mate myth
Definition A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate. A traditional story which embodies a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; a sacred narrative regarding a god, a hero, the origin of the world or of a people, etc.

Where the eye mixes mate and myth

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mate
4 ch
myth

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mate (/meɪt/) and myth (/mɪθ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9012, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mate is recorded at frequency rank #2,743, classified as anoun, pronounced /meɪt/. myth is at rank #6,269, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɪθ/.

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 9012, this pair ranks #499,528 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mate vs myth

Shared letters: mt. Private to "mate": ae. Private to "myth": hy.

"mate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "myth" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mateamte · mmate · mtae
  • mythmmyth · mtyh · myht · mythh · mytth · myyth · ymth

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mate" and "myth" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/meɪt/ versus /mɪθ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mate" or "myth"?
"mate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,743 in our English list, against #6,269 for "myth". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list