mèchevsmytheConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,096
“mèche” frequency rank
#5,586
“mythe” frequency rank
19682
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mèche mythe
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. Récit fabuleux d'origine immémoriale contenant un sens allégorique fondateur d'une communauté humaine et de son environnement.

Where the eye mixes mèche and mythe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
mèche
5 ch
mythe

Look-alike desk: mèche vs mythe

A purely visual mix-up. mèche (\mɛʃ\) and mythe (\mit\) 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 19682, 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\. mythe is at rank #5,586, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mit\.

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 19682, this pair ranks #372,055 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mèche vs mythe

Shared letters: ehm. Private to "mèche": . Private to "mythe": ty.

"mèche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mythe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mythemmythe · mtyhe · myhte · myteh · mythhe · mytthe · myythe · ymthe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mèche" and "mythe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\mɛʃ\ versus \mit\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mèche" vs "mythe" - which ranks higher?
"mythe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,586 in our French list, against #14,096 for "mèche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "mèche" and "mythe" 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 "mythe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #372,055 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mèche" and "mythe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mèche vs meuh". 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 #372,055 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