Which to use
“maïs” is a noun and “ms” is a symbol - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,849
- “maïs” frequency rank
- #6,112
- “ms” frequency rank
- 12961
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maïs | ms |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Symbole de la milliseconde, unité de mesure de temps du Système international (SI), valant 10⁻³ seconde. |
Letter map: maïs vs ms
Shared letters muted; letters that set maïs and ms apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - maïs and ms
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: maïs is anoun and msasymbol. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12961, 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\. ms is at rank #6,112, tagged as asymbol.
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 12961, this pair ranks #403,003 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maïs vs ms
Shared letters: ms. Private to "maïs": aï. Private to "ms": -.
"maïs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "ms" · 2 letters · shape CC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maïs" for "ms" ever safe?
Frequency check: "maïs" vs "ms" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "maïs" and "ms". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "maïs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ms" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #403,003 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maïs" and "ms" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maid vs maïs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #403,003 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.