nmvsnusWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: nm is a symbol, nus is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nm” is a symbol and “nus” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,954
“nm” frequency rank
#7,091
“nus” frequency rank
30045
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nm nus
Definition Symbole du nanomètre, unité de mesure de longueur du Système international (SI), valant 0,000000001 mètre (10⁻⁹ mètre). Masculin pluriel de nu.

Letter map: nm vs nus

Shared letters muted; letters that set nm and nus apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

2 ch
nm
3 ch
nus

Grammar separator: nm vs nus

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: nm is asymbol and nusanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nm is recorded at frequency rank #22,954, classified as asymbol. nus is at rank #7,091, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ny\.

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 30045, this pair ranks #312,824 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nm vs nus

Shared letters: n. Private to "nm": m. Private to "nus": su.

"nm" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "nus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nm" and "nus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nm" is a symbol and "nus" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "nm" or "nus" show up more?
"nus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,091 in our French list, against #22,954 for "nm". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "nm" and "nus". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #312,824 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nm" and "nus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nm vs nop". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #312,824 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