Which to use
“Mère” and “mort” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #292
- “Mère” frequency rank
- #187
- “mort” frequency rank
- 479
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mère | mort |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom donné à la Vierge Marie. | Arrêt définitif des fonctions vitales (assimilation de nutriments, respiration, fonctionnement du système nerveux central). |
Where the eye mixes Mère and mort
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Mère and mort
A purely visual mix-up. Mère (\mɛʁ\) and mort (\mɔʁ\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mère is recorded at frequency rank #292, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\. mort is at rank #187, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔʁ\.
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 479, this pair ranks #439,575 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Mère vs mort
Shared letters: mr. Private to "Mère": eè. Private to "mort": ot.
"Mère" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mort ← mmort · morrt · mortt · motr · mrot · omrt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Mère" for "mort" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Mère" vs "mort" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "mort" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,575 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Mère" and "mort" 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 #439,575 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.