Which to use
“mâche” and “mèche” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,456
- “mâche” frequency rank
- #14,096
- “mèche” frequency rank
- 43552
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mâche | mèche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom vulgaire de Valerianella locusta, plante potagère de la famille des Caprifoliaceae (caprifoliacées) que l'on mange en salade. | Assemblage de fils de coton, de chanvre, etc., qu’on utilise pour l’éclairage dans les lampes à huile, à pétrole, à essence, etc. |
Where the eye mixes mâche and mèche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mâche vs mèche
A purely visual mix-up. mâche (\mɑʃ\) and mèche (\mɛʃ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - â in “mâche” becomes è in “mèche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mâche is recorded at frequency rank #29,456, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɑʃ\. mèche is at rank #14,096, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛʃ\.
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 43552, this pair ranks #217,188 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mâche vs mèche
Shared letters: cehm. Private to "mâche": â. Private to "mèche": è.
"mâche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mèche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mâche" and "mèche" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mâche" vs "mèche" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mâche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mèche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #217,188 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mâche" and "mèche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mâche vs mane". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #217,188 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.