mêsvsmeshWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“mês” and “mesh” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#444
“mês” frequency rank
#43,032
“mesh” frequency rank
43476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mês mesh
Definition cada uma das doze partes em que se divide o ano interstício

Where the eye mixes mês and mesh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
mês
4 ch
mesh

Why the eye confuses mês with mesh

A purely visual mix-up. mês (/ˈmeʃ/) 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 43476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mês is recorded at frequency rank #444, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmeʃ/. 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 43476, this pair ranks #22,156 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mês vs mesh

Shared letters: ms. Private to "mês": ê. Private to "mesh": eh.

"mês" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mesh" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • meshemsh · mehs · meshh · messh · mmesh · mseh

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mês" and "mesh" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmeʃ/ versus /ˈmɛʃ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mês" vs "mesh" - which ranks higher?
"mês" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #444 in our Portuguese list, against #43,032 for "mesh". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mês" 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 #22,156 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mês" 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 #22,156 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list