Which to use
“mécano” and “mécène” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,359
- “mécano” frequency rank
- #26,807
- “mécène” frequency rank
- 60166
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mécano | mécène |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mécanicien ou mécanicienne | Celui qui encourage par ses libéralités les sciences, les lettres et les arts. |
Where the eye mixes mécano and mécène
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mécano vs mécène
A purely visual mix-up. mécano (\me.ka.no\) and mécène (\me.sɛn\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mécano is recorded at frequency rank #33,359, classified as anoun, pronounced \me.ka.no\. mécène is at rank #26,807, tagged as anoun, pronounced \me.sɛn\.
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 60166, this pair ranks #99,098 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mécano vs mécène
Shared letters: cmné. Private to "mécano": ao. Private to "mécène": eè.
"mécano" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "mécène" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mécano" and "mécène" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "mécano" or "mécène" show up more?
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 "mécano" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mécène" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,098 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mécano" and "mécène" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "means vs mécano". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #99,098 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.