Which to use
“mel” and “mesh” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,843
- “mel” frequency rank
- #43,032
- “mesh” frequency rank
- 45875
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mel | mesh |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | substância doce, espessa e viscosa elaborada pelas abelhas nas colmeias | interstício |
Where the eye mixes mel and mesh
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mel with mesh
A purely visual mix-up. mel (/ˈmɛɫ/) and mesh (/ˈmɛʃ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mel is recorded at frequency rank #2,843, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛɫ/. mesh is at rank #43,032, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛʃ/.
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 45875, this pair ranks #19,508 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mel vs mesh
Shared letters: em. Private to "mel": l. Private to "mesh": hs.
"mel" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mesh" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mesh ← emsh · mehs · meshh · messh · mmesh · mseh
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mel" for "mesh" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mel" vs "mesh" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mel" and "mesh" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mesh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #19,508 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mel" and "mesh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mesh vs muso". 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 #19,508 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.