Which to use
“Meier” and “mercier” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,216
- “Meier” frequency rank
- #12,198
- “mercier” frequency rank
- 61414
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Meier | mercier |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Métayer, à l'origine, fonctionnaire d'un propriétaire noble ou ecclésiastique qui avait en charge l'administration et la gestion de la ferme principale. Plus tard, locataire d'une grande exploitation agricole. majordome. | Membre de la mercerie, corps qui importait des marchandises d’orient. |
Where the eye mixes Meier and mercier
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Meier runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against mercier's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Meier and mercier
A purely visual mix-up. Meier (\maɪ̯ɐ\) and mercier (\mɛʁ.sje\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Meier is recorded at frequency rank #49,216, classified as anoun, pronounced \maɪ̯ɐ\. mercier is at rank #12,198, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ.sje\.
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 61414, this pair ranks #92,427 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Meier vs mercier
Shared letters: eimr. Private to "Meier": -. Private to "mercier": c.
"Meier" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "mercier" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Meier" for "mercier" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Meier" or "mercier"?
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 "Meier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mercier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #92,427 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Meier" and "mercier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Meier vs muer". 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 #92,427 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.