main and mane are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. main means “most important element”. mane means “long coarse hair growing from the crest of the animal's neck”. main is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈmeɪn/
1.adj.most important element
“the chief aim of living”
2.adj.(of a clause) capable of standing syntactically alone as a complete sentence
“the main (or independent) clause in a complex sentence has at least a subject and a verb”
3.adj.of force; of the greatest possible intensity
“by main strength”
| main | mane | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈmeɪn/ | /ˈmeɪn/ |
| Said | mayn | mayn |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 4 | 4 |
| Parts of speech | adjective, noun | noun |
| Senses | 5 | 2 |
| How common | Core | Familiar |
| Synonyms | chief, primary, principal | none recorded |
Full entry for main · Full entry for mane · More comparisons
/ˈmeɪn/
1.n.long coarse hair growing from the crest of the animal's neck
2.n.growth of hair covering the scalp of a human being