molinevsmoulinWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,768
“moline” frequency rank
#40,803
“moulin” frequency rank
88571
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature moline moulin
Definition The crossed iron that supports the upper millstone by resting on the spindle; a millrind. A cylindrical, vertical shaft that extends through a glacier and is carved by meltwater from the glacier’s surface.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set moline and moulin apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
moline
6 ch
moulin

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

moline and moulin are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88571, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

moline is recorded at frequency rank #47,768, classified as anoun. 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 88571, this pair ranks #6,173 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of moline vs moulin

Shared letters: ilmno. Private to "moline": e. Private to "moulin": u.

"moline" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "moulin" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • molinemloine · mmoline · moilne · molien · molinne · molline · molnie · omline
  • moulinmmoulin · moluin · mouiln · moulinn · moullin · moulni · muolin · omulin

Frequency comparison

moline#47,768
moulin#40,803

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "moline" and "moulin" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "moline" or "moulin"?
"moulin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,803 in our English list, against #47,768 for "moline". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering moline vs moulin

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “moline” 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