Which to use
“Meier” and “mères” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,216
- “Meier” frequency rank
- #4,253
- “mères” frequency rank
- 53469
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Meier | mères |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Pluriel de mère. |
Where the eye mixes Meier and mères
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Meier (CVVVC) and mères (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses Meier with mères
A purely visual mix-up. Meier (\maɪ̯ɐ\) and mères (\mɛʁ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53469, 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\. mères is at rank #4,253, 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 53469, this pair ranks #140,519 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Meier vs mères
Shared letters: emr. Private to "Meier": i. Private to "mères": sè.
"Meier" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "mères" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Meier ← emier · meeir · meierr · meire · mieer · mmeier
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Meier" for "mères" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Meier" or "mères"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Meier" and "mères" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Meier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mères" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #140,519 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Meier" and "mères" 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 #140,519 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.