al pie de la letra
[al ˈpje ð̞e la ˈlet̪ɾa]
The verdict
“al pie de la letra” is uncommon Spanish (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency Spanish
- 18
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Siguiendo escrupulosamente las instrucciones.
Corpus desk
Index ES-al-pie-de-la-letra · al pie de la letra · Spanish
al pie de la letra · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 18 letters
- VOW-7 7 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | al pie de la letra |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| IPA | [al ˈpje ð̞e la ˈlet̪ɾa] |
| Letters | 18 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Cola larga: rango de “al pie de la letra” en español
Rare enough to double-check
al pie de la letra is uncommon Spanish outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed [al ˈpje ð̞e la ˈlet̪ɾa]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for al pie de la letra in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable Spanish rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Spanish form is al pie de la letra, spelled A-L- -P-I-E- -D-E- -L-A- -L-E-T-R-A.
Definition
- 1Siguiendo escrupulosamente las instrucciones.
- 2En forma o sentido literal.
- 3De manera estricta, sin alternativas ni variantes.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how al pie de la letra appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
El médico te dijo que siguieras esa dieta al pie de la letra y que no la debes romper para nada
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.