ancestro
[ãnˈsest̪ɾo]
The verdict
“ancestro” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #42,803 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.
- #42,803
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 8
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ascendiente, persona de la que se desciende, particularmente si es de un tiempo remoto.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ancestro |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ãnˈsest̪ɾo] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #42,803 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ancestro” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for ancestro is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ãnˈsest̪ɾo]. Corpus data places it at rank #42,803 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Ascendiente, persona de la que se desciende, particularmente si es de un tiempo remoto.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for ancestro, with forms such as "acnestro", "anccestro", and "ancesrto". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "ancestros", "ancestral", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct Spanish form is ancestro, spelled A-N-C-E-S-T-R-O.
Definition
- 1Ascendiente, persona de la que se desciende, particularmente si es de un tiempo remoto.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acnestro,anccestro,ancesrto,ancesstro,ancestor,ancestrro,ancesttro,ancetsro,ancsetro,anecstro,anncestro,ansestro,nacestro
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ancestro - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "ancestro"?
What does "ancestro" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "ancestro"?
How do you pronounce "ancestro"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “ancestro”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is A-N-C-E-S-T-R-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ãnˈsest̪ɾo] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ancestros” - see the side-by-side comparison. ancestro vs ancestros
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.