MèrevsmoireWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#292
“Mère” frequency rank
#48,051
“moire” frequency rank
48343
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mère moire
Definition Nom donné à la Vierge Marie. Apprêt que reçoivent, par un calandrage spécifique, certaines étoffes de soie, de laine, de coton ou de lin, et qui leur communique un éclat changeant, une apparence ondée et chatoyante.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Mère and moire apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Mère
5 ch
moire

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Mère (\mɛʁ\) and moire (\mwaʁ\) 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 48343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mère is recorded at frequency rank #292, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\. moire is at rank #48,051, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mwaʁ\.

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 48343, this pair ranks #179,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Mère vs moire

Shared letters: emr. Private to "Mère": è. Private to "moire": io.

"Mère" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "moire" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • moiremiore · mmoire · moier · moirre · morie · omire

Frequency comparison

Mère#292
moire#48,051

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Mère" and "moire" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɛʁ\ versus \mwaʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Mère" or "moire"?
"Mère" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #292 in our French list, against #48,051 for "moire". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Mère vs moire

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Mère” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list