Which to use
“maïs” and “mie” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,849
- “maïs” frequency rank
- #17,190
- “mie” frequency rank
- 24039
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maïs | mie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom vernaculaire de Zea mays subsp. mays, — et de ses cultivars —, plante herbacée de la famille des Poaceae (ou Poacées ou Graminées), originaire du Mexique et du Guatemala, à tige droite et aux feuilles lancéolées, et que l’on cultive comme plante fourragère ou pour ses graines. | Miette, habituellement de pain. |
Where the eye mixes maïs and mie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between maïs and mie
A purely visual mix-up. maïs (\ma.is\) and mie (\mi\) 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 24039, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maïs is recorded at frequency rank #6,849, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.is\. mie is at rank #17,190, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mi\.
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 24039, this pair ranks #348,990 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maïs vs mie
Shared letters: m. Private to "maïs": asï. Private to "mie": ei.
"maïs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "mie" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maïs" and "mie" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "maïs" or "mie" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "maïs" and "mie" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "maïs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #348,990 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maïs" and "mie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mie vs MWh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #348,990 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.