Which to use
“maille” is a noun and “mainte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,248
- “maille” frequency rank
- #45,723
- “mainte” frequency rank
- 63971
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maille | mainte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chacune des boucles que forment des fils croisés ou noués en un point et qui constituent un tissu plus ou moins lâche. | Féminin singulier de maint. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maille and mainte apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maille is \mɑj\ while mainte is \mɛ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maille is recorded at frequency rank #18,248, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɑj\. mainte is at rank #45,723, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɛ̃t\.
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 63971, this pair ranks #79,312 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maille vs mainte
Shared letters: aeim. Private to "maille": l. Private to "mainte": nt.
"maille" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "mainte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maille" and "mainte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "maille" or "mainte"?
Remembering maille vs mainte
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “maille”; for an adjective, it's “mainte”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maille” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable