Maze vs. Maize – How to Use Each Correctly

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Maze vs. Maize – What’s the Gist?

These two homophones have different meanings and spellings; however, you can use one to make the other.

  • Maze is primarily used as a noun; the verb has some dialectal meanings.
  • Maize is a concrete noun.

By the way, a concrete noun is something that is tangible, an item that can be observed through the senses.

 

maze versus maize

How to Use Maze in a Sentence

Maze definition: As a noun, maze means a confusing, complicated complex of paths, or something that is confusingly elaborate or intricate.

Functioning as a dialectal verb means that the usage is confined to a certain area. In other words, it is not commonly or universally applied as such.

For example:

  • One of their harvest traditions as a family was going to the local corn maze. (Noun)
  • Filling out the FAFSA for college monies became a maze of paperwork for the matriculating high school senior. (Noun)
  • Driving through the intricate highway system of Washington, D.C., and being entirely mazed by the process, the driver frustrated seasoned commuters. (Past Tense Verb)

Perhaps a more common synonym for maze is the word labyrinth—the intricate trap that Daedalus made for King Minos in Ancient Greece.

How to Use Maize in a Sentence

Maize definition: The scientific definition of maize means the tall annual cereal grass that produces large elongated ears of starchy seed. In other words, it’s corn.

For example:

  • The Native Americans supplied the Europeans with maize to eat and to cultivate. (Noun)

Due to its size and density, maize makes an appropriate material to create autumnal mazes.

Outside Examples of Maze vs. Maize

  • Two brothers are trying to figure out who vandalized their corn maze in Dawsonville just three weeks before it was scheduled to open for the fall season. –The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  • For those not in the know, corn mazes, like such other oddball pastimes and pursuits as escape rooms and ax throwing, are a thing these days. Farms across the country have made it part of their autumn slate of offerings. The idea: Come for the pumpkin patch and cider doughnuts, but stay for the chance to get completely lost in a field of towering vegetation. –The Wall Street Journal
  • Rains have been sparse this year and staple crops such as maize and sorghum are stunted and wilting across the district, a few kilometers (miles) from Mozambique, another country hard hit by the drought. –The San Diego Union-Tribune
  • Modern corn, or maize, actually is a tall, annual grass. All kinds, including ornamental corn, popcorn, field corn and sweet corn, are varieties of a single plant called Zea mays. About 350 types of corn are grown in Peru. –Star Tribune

Phrases That Use Maze and Maize

While there aren’t any common phrases that utilize the words maze or maize, there are several idioms or phrases that do use the word corn:

Cornball: Something is stupid or maudlin.

  • The annual crowning of the king and queen of the small-town fair appeared to some as being cornball.

Cornhole: A Midwest yard game played outside during summer gatherings.

  • The children competed against their parents in a competitive game of cornhole.

Cornfed: Someone who looks well-fed, or who acts corny.

  • Gomer Pyle was definitely cornfed.

Seed corn: Seed that is set back for planting in the next year’s growing season.

  • The farmer kept back the best seed corn, storing it for next year.

How to Remember These Words

A good way to remember which word you want is to think that going through a maze might be amazing. The words maze and amazing not only rhyme but also share three letters m a z. Add the fact that a maze can be made from maize just adds to the “corny” experience.

For example:

  • As he walked through the maze, he was amazed.
  • Maize is more commonly known as corn.

Quiz: Maze or Maize

  • The family scoured the internet looking for a _______ to explore.
  • An early crop grown by Europeans in America was _______.
  • The _______ was constructed out of _______.

Article Summary

Is maze or maize correct? If you are looking for a noun that requires confusion either in a physical or mental state, the word you want is maze. If you want to eat something tasty, pick maize.

  • Maze is commonly used as a noun but does have some dialectal meanings as a verb.
  • Maize is a noun.

Quiz Answers

  • Maze.
  • Maize.
  • Maze.
  • Maize.