maximavsmaximesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“maxima” and “maximes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#29,438
“maxima” frequency rank
#42,456
“maximes” frequency rank
71894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maxima maximes
Definition Pluriel de maximum. Pluriel de maxime.

Letter map: maxima vs maximes

Shared letters muted; letters that set maxima and maximes apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

6 ch
maxima
7 ch
maximes

Spelling & dictionary notes on maxima vs maximes

maxima and maximes are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maxima is recorded at frequency rank #29,438, classified as anoun. maximes is at rank #42,456, 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 71894, this pair ranks #45,895 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of maxima vs maximes

Shared letters: aimx. Private to "maxima": -. Private to "maximes": es.

"maxima" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "maximes" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maximaamxima · maixma · maxiam · maximma · maxmia · maxxima · mmaxima · mxaima
  • maximesamximes · maixmes · maxiems · maximess · maximmes · maximse · maxmies · maxximes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maxima" and "maximes" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "maxima" vs "maximes" - which ranks higher?
"maxima" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,438 in our French list, against #42,456 for "maximes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "maxima" and "maximes".

  • Full dictionary entry for "maxima" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "maximes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #45,895 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maxima" and "maximes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "manies vs maximes". 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 #45,895 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list