maine vs mane

Side by side

maine or mane?

What is the difference between maine and mane?

maine means "a state in New England". mane means "long coarse hair growing from the crest of the animal's neck". They are pronounced identically — /ˈmeɪn/ — so only the spelling and the meaning separate them.

Which is more common, maine or mane?

Neither is markedly more common — both sit in the "Familiar" band.

Are maine and mane pronounced the same?

Yes. Both are /ˈmeɪn/, said mayn. Words that sound alike and are spelled differently are homophones, and they are the commonest source of written mix-ups in English.

Can maine and mane be used in the same place in a sentence?

Both work as nouns, so they are grammatically interchangeable. That is exactly what makes the meaning difference worth checking.

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