mmvsMRTell them apart

Quick tell: mm is a symbol, MR is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mm” is a symbol and “MR” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,092
“mm” frequency rank
#2,434
“MR” frequency rank
3526
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mm MR
Definition Symbole du millimètre, unité de mesure de longueur du Système international (SI), valant 0,001 mètre (10⁻³ mètre). Mouvement Réformateur, parti politique belge francophone de droite.

Where the eye mixes mm and MR

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
mm
2 ch
MR

Visual trap between mm and MR

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mm is \mi.li.mɛtʁ\ while MR is \ɛ.m‿ɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “mm” becomes r in “MR”, and the parts of speech differ too (symbol vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mm is recorded at frequency rank #1,092, classified as asymbol, pronounced \mi.li.mɛtʁ\. MR is at rank #2,434, tagged as aname, pronounced \ɛ.m‿ɛʁ\.

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 3526, this pair ranks #433,813 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mm vs MR

Shared letters: m. Private to "mm": -. Private to "MR": r.

"mm" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "MR" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mm" for "MR" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mm" is a symbol and "MR" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "mm" vs "MR" - which ranks higher?
"mm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,092 in our French list, against #2,434 for "MR". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "MR" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #433,813 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mm" and "MR" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "MR vs MWh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #433,813 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list