mecvsmeldWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mec is a noun, meld is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mec” is a noun and “meld” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,770
“mec” frequency rank
#40,795
“meld” frequency rank
83565
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mec meld
Definition Clipping of meconium. To combine (multiple things) together; to blend, to fuse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mec and meld apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
mec
4 ch
meld

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mec is anoun and meldaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83565, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mec is recorded at frequency rank #42,770, classified as anoun. meld is at rank #40,795, tagged as averb, pronounced /mɛld/.

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 83565, this pair ranks #13,548 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mec vs meld

Shared letters: em. Private to "mec": c. Private to "meld": dl.

"mec" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "meld" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • meldemld · medl · meldd · melld · mled · mmeld

Frequency comparison

mec#42,770
meld#40,795

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mec" and "meld" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mec" is a noun and "meld" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mec" or "meld"?
"meld" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,795 in our English list, against #42,770 for "mec". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mec vs meld

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mec”; for a verb, it's “meld”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mec” 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