Which to use
“maire” and “mir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,142
- “maire” frequency rank
- #28,652
- “mir” frequency rank
- 29794
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maire | mir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Premier officier municipal d’une commune, municipalité ou arrondissement, élu, en France, par les conseillers municipaux à l’issue des élections municipales, en Suisse, soit directement par le corps électoral (Jura), soit chaque année pour une année par le conseil municipal (Genève). | Dans la Russie impériale, communauté paysanne gérant collectivement des terres qu'elle répartissait entre les familles pour un temps donné. |
Where the eye mixes maire and mir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between maire and mir
A purely visual mix-up. maire (\mɛʁ\) and mir (\miʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29794, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maire is recorded at frequency rank #1,142, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\. mir is at rank #28,652, tagged as anoun, pronounced \miʁ\.
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 29794, this pair ranks #314,444 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maire vs mir
Shared letters: imr. Private to "maire": ae. Private to "mir": -.
"maire" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "mir" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- maire ← amire · maier · mairre · marie · miare · mmaire
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maire" and "mir" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "maire" or "mir"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "maire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,444 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maire" and "mir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mir vs MWh". 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 #314,444 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.