Which to use
“mèche” and “Mère” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,096
- “mèche” frequency rank
- #292
- “Mère” frequency rank
- 14388
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mèche | Mère |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Assemblage de fils de coton, de chanvre, etc., qu’on utilise pour l’éclairage dans les lampes à huile, à pétrole, à essence, etc. | Nom donné à la Vierge Marie. |
Where the eye mixes mèche and Mère
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mèche with Mère
A purely visual mix-up. mèche (\mɛʃ\) and Mère (\mɛʁ\) 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 14388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mèche is recorded at frequency rank #14,096, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʃ\. Mère is at rank #292, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\.
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 14388, this pair ranks #396,896 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mèche vs Mère
Shared letters: emè. Private to "mèche": ch. Private to "Mère": r.
"mèche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Mère" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mèche" and "Mère" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mèche" or "Mère"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mèche" and "Mère" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mèche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Mère" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #396,896 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mèche" and "Mère" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mèche vs meuh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #396,896 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.