Which to use
“merlin” and “moulin” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,749
- “merlin” frequency rank
- #40,803
- “moulin” frequency rank
- 57552
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merlin | moulin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small falcon, Falco columbarius, that breeds in northern North America, Europe, and Asia. | A cylindrical, vertical shaft that extends through a glacier and is carved by meltwater from the glacier’s surface. |
Where the eye mixes merlin and moulin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. merlin (CVCCVC) and moulin (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses merlin with moulin
A purely visual mix-up. merlin (/ˈmɝlɪn/) and moulin (/ˈmuːlæn/) 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 57552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merlin is recorded at frequency rank #16,749, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɝlɪn/. moulin is at rank #40,803, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmuːlæn/.
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 57552, this pair ranks #118,566 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of merlin vs moulin
Shared letters: ilmn. Private to "merlin": er. Private to "moulin": ou.
"merlin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "moulin" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "merlin" for "moulin" ever safe?
Frequency check: "merlin" vs "moulin" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "merlin" and "moulin" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "merlin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "moulin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #118,566 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merlin" and "moulin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moline vs moulin". 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 #118,566 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.