Which to use
“mater” and “mer” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,868
- “mater” frequency rank
- #22,090
- “mer” frequency rank
- 53958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mater | mer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | maternidade, estabelecimento público ou privado destinado a receber mulheres que estão a ponto de dar a luz | mar |
Where the eye mixes mater and mer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mater runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against mer's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mater with mer
A purely visual mix-up. mater (/ma.tɛʁ/) and mer (/mɛʁ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mater is recorded at frequency rank #31,868, classified as anoun, pronounced /ma.tɛʁ/. mer is at rank #22,090, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɛʁ/.
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 53958, this pair ranks #11,661 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mater vs mer
Shared letters: emr. Private to "mater": at. Private to "mer": -.
"mater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mater ← amter · maetr · materr · mmater · mtaer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mater" for "mer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mater" vs "mer" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mater" and "mer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mater" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,661 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mater" and "mer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mater vs matiz". 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 #11,661 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.