Which to use
“Mère” and “mesure” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #292
- “Mère” frequency rank
- #520
- “mesure” frequency rank
- 812
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mère | mesure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom donné à la Vierge Marie. | Dimension. |
Where the eye mixes Mère and mesure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Mère and mesure
A purely visual mix-up. Mère (\mɛʁ\) and mesure (\mə.zyʁ\) 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 812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mère is recorded at frequency rank #292, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\. mesure is at rank #520, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mə.zyʁ\.
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 812, this pair ranks #439,078 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Mère vs mesure
Shared letters: emr. Private to "Mère": è. Private to "mesure": su.
"Mère" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mesure" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mesure ← emsure · mesrue · messure · mesuer · mesurre · meusre · mmesure · mseure
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Mère" and "mesure" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Mère" or "mesure"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Mère" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mesure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,078 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Mère" and "mesure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "memo vs Mère". 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 #439,078 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.