Which to use
“merlin” and “moulin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,438
- “merlin” frequency rank
- #5,480
- “moulin” frequency rank
- 16918
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merlin | moulin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Long marteau dont les bouchers se servent pour assommer les bœufs. | Machine permettant de moudre du grain. |
Where the eye mixes merlin and moulin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. merlin (CVCCVC) and moulin (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses merlin with moulin
A purely visual mix-up. merlin (\mɛʁ.lɛ̃\) and moulin (\mu.lɛ̃\) 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 16918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merlin is recorded at frequency rank #11,438, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ.lɛ̃\. moulin is at rank #5,480, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mu.lɛ̃\.
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 16918, this pair ranks #385,647 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of merlin vs moulin
Shared letters: ilmn. Private to "merlin": er. Private to "moulin": ou.
"merlin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "moulin" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "merlin" for "moulin" ever safe?
Frequency check: "merlin" vs "moulin" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "merlin" and "moulin" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "merlin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "moulin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #385,647 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merlin" and "moulin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mercis vs merlin". 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 #385,647 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.