Which to use
“main” and “Maxim” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #385
- “main” frequency rank
- #29,437
- “Maxim” frequency rank
- 29822
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | main | Maxim |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie du corps humain située au bout du bras, qui s’étend du poignet jusqu’au bout des doigts, qui sert à la préhension et au toucher. | Mitrailleuse auto-alimentée, conçue par Hiram Maxim en 1884. |
Where the eye mixes main and Maxim
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: main vs Maxim
A purely visual mix-up. main (\mɛ̃\) and Maxim (\mak.sim\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
main is recorded at frequency rank #385, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛ̃\. Maxim is at rank #29,437, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mak.sim\.
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 29822, this pair ranks #314,242 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of main vs Maxim
Shared letters: aim. Private to "main": n. Private to "Maxim": x.
"main" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "Maxim" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "main" and "Maxim" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "main" vs "Maxim" - which ranks higher?
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 "main" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Maxim" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,242 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "main" and "Maxim" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maid vs Maxim". 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 #314,242 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.