Which to use
“merci” is an intj and “merlin” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,047
- “merci” frequency rank
- #16,749
- “merlin” frequency rank
- 54796
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merci | merlin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Thank you. | A small falcon, Falco columbarius, that breeds in northern North America, Europe, and Asia. |
Where the eye mixes merci and merlin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. merci runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against merlin's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between merci and merlin
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: merci is /mɛːˈsiː/ while merlin is /ˈmɝlɪn/. 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 (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merci is recorded at frequency rank #38,047, classified as anintj, pronounced /mɛːˈsiː/. merlin is at rank #16,749, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɝlɪn/.
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 54796, this pair ranks #138,413 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of merci vs merlin
Shared letters: eimr. Private to "merci": c. Private to "merlin": ln.
"merci" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "merlin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "merci" and "merlin" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "merci" or "merlin"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "merci" and "merlin" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "merci" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merlin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #138,413 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merci" and "merlin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merci vs Merv". 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 #138,413 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.