MecquevsMexiqueWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,415
“Mecque” frequency rank
#3,207
“Mexique” frequency rank
19622
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mecque Mexique
Definition Centre de rayonnement d'un art ou d'une science. Pays d’Amérique du Nord bordé par les États-Unis d’Amérique au nord et par le Guatemala et le Belize au sud-est, ainsi que par le golfe du Mexique et la mer des Caraïbes à l’est et par l’océan Pacifique à l’ouest ; sa capitale est Mexico.

Where the eye mixes Mecque and Mexique

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Mecque
7 ch
Mexique

Look-alike desk: Mecque vs Mexique

A purely visual mix-up. Mecque (\mɛk\) and Mexique (\mek.sik\) 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 19622, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mecque is recorded at frequency rank #16,415, classified as aname, pronounced \mɛk\. Mexique is at rank #3,207, tagged as aname, pronounced \mek.sik\.

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 19622, this pair ranks #372,367 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Mecque vs Mexique

Shared letters: emqu. Private to "Mecque": c. Private to "Mexique": ix.

"Mecque" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "Mexique" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mecqueemcque · mceque · meccque · mecqeu · mecqque · mecuqe · meqcue · mmecque
  • Mexiqueemxique · meixque · mexiqeu · mexiqque · mexiuqe · mexqiue · mexxique · mmexique

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Mecque" and "Mexique" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɛk\ versus \mek.sik\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Mecque" vs "Mexique" - which ranks higher?
"Mexique" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,207 in our French list, against #16,415 for "Mecque". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Mecque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mexique" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #372,367 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mecque" and "Mexique" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mécène vs Mecque". 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 #372,367 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