año

[ˈaɲo]

/[ˈaɲo]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“año” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #100) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#100
frequency rank, Spanish
120,137
“A” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Intervalo de tiempo que tarda la Tierra en hacer una revolución alrededor del Sol. El año se compone de 365 días y cuarto aproximadamente. Por eso cada cuatro años el año civil tiene un día más.

Corpus desk

Index ES-ano · año · Spanish

año · rank #100 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #100
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 120,137
  • PHOTO-FINISH les

Nearest frequency peer: les (+1 rank slots)

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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “año”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “año” sits against the nearest ranked Spanish headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

año vs ay
33% similar
año vs as
33% similar
año vs at
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for año
PropertyValue
Headwordaño
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈaɲo]
Letters3
Frequency rank#100
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “año” sits in Spanish frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). año lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for año is neighbouring look-alikes ("ay", "as", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ˈaɲo]. Frequency #100 among 120,137 “A” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for año, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ay", "as", "at", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Spanish form is año, spelled A-Ñ-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Intervalo de tiempo que tarda la Tierra en hacer una revolución alrededor del Sol. El año se compone de 365 días y cuarto aproximadamente. Por eso cada cuatro años el año civil tiene un día más.
  2. 2
    Intervalo de tiempo que tarda cada planeta en hacer una revolución alrededor de otro cuerpo.
  3. 3
    Periodo entre fechas que determinan un año según el calendario gregoriano, del 1 de enero hasta el 31 de diciembre.
  4. 4
    Parte fijada de un año civil que se gasta en una actividad específica.
  5. 5
    Año Juliano, exactamente 365,25 días.
  6. 6
    Un grado en la escuela o el instituto.
  7. 7
    Período de doce meses contando de desde una fecha cualquiera.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how año appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Dejé de fumar hace un año.
  2. El planeta Marte gira alrededor del sol una vez en un año marciano.

Synonyms

año astronómicoaño solaraño astronómicoaño civilaño naturalaño políticoaño lectivo

This word in other languages

year(English)an(Français)Jahr(Deutsch)ano(Português)

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "año"?
"año" is spelled A-Ñ-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈaɲo].
What does "año" mean?
As a noun, "año" means: Intervalo de tiempo que tarda la Tierra en hacer una revolución alrededor del Sol. El año se compone de 365 días y cuarto aproximadamente. Por eso cada cuatro años el año civil tiene un día más.
What words are commonly confused with "año"?
"año" is commonly confused with "ay", "as", "at". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "año"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "año" is [ˈaɲo]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "año" come from?
"año" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Spanish words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "año", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

les#101esa#94han#85ese#84
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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list