memvsmurTell them apart

Which to use

“mem” and “mur” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,311
“mem” frequency rank
#49,813
“mur” frequency rank
94124
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mem mur
Definition Decimotercera letra del alfabeto hebreo Ratón (roedor).

Where the eye mixes mem and mur

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. mem and mur follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
mem
3 ch
mur

Look-alike desk: mem vs mur

A purely visual mix-up. mem ([ˈmẽm]) and mur ([ˈmuɾ]) 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 94124, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mem is recorded at frequency rank #44,311, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmẽm]. mur is at rank #49,813, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmuɾ].

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 94124, this pair ranks #900 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mem vs mur

Shared letters: m. Private to "mem": e. Private to "mur": ru.

"mem" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mur" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mem" for "mur" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmẽm] versus [ˈmuɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mem" or "mur" show up more?
"mem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,311 in our Spanish list, against #49,813 for "mur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #900 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mem" and "mur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mop vs mur". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #900 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