mearvsmemConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#17,484
“mear” frequency rank
#44,311
“mem” frequency rank
61795
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mear mem
Definition Evacuar del organismo la orina u otra secreción a través de la uretra. Decimotercera letra del alfabeto hebreo

Where the eye mixes mear and mem

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

4 ch
mear
3 ch
mem

Look-alike desk: mear vs mem

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mear is [meˈaɾ] while mem is [ˈmẽm]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mear is recorded at frequency rank #17,484, classified as averb, pronounced [meˈaɾ]. mem is at rank #44,311, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmẽm].

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 61795, this pair ranks #54,222 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mear vs mem

Shared letters: em. Private to "mear": ar. Private to "mem": -.

"mear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "mem" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mearemar · maer · mearr · mmear

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mear" for "mem" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mear" is a verb and "mem" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mear" or "mem"?
"mear" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,484 in our Spanish list, against #44,311 for "mem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,222 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mear" and "mem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mem vs mur". 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 #54,222 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list