apnea

[apˈnea]

/[apˈnea]/ noun

The verdict

“apnea” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #52,685 among 7,704 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,685
frequency rank, Spanish
7,704
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Interrupción momentánea de la respiración.

Corpus desk

Index ES-apnea · apnea · Spanish

apnea · rank #52,685 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,685
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 7,704
  • PHOTO-FINISH apicultura

Nearest frequency peer: apicultura (-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.

Rangos de cola larga cerca de “apnea”

Banda escasa: las barras invierten el rango para que lo raro se lea más corto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista de cola larga: dónde “apnea” se sitúa frente a rangos españoles igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for apnea
PropertyValue
Headwordapnea
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[apˈnea]
Letters5
Frequency rank#52,685
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “apnea” en español

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).apneacae en esta cola de rareza:

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

El eje es logarítmico: cada tick marca unas diez veces menos frecuencia. Vecinos raros de la misma franja: “apicultura” (#52,684), “aprensión” (#52,687), “anhelando” (#52,682). Entre 7,704 lemas con “A”, “apnea” va en #52,685. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

apnea is uncommon Spanish at frequency #52,685 among 7,704 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [apˈnea]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for apnea in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Spanish form is apnea, spelled A-P-N-E-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Interrupción momentánea de la respiración.
  2. 2
    Prueba deportiva de natación o buceo sin respirar.^([cita requerida])

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 "apnea"?
"apnea" is spelled A-P-N-E-A. The IPA pronunciation is [apˈnea].
What does "apnea" mean?
As a noun, "apnea" means: Interrupción momentánea de la respiración.
How do you pronounce "apnea"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "apnea" is [apˈnea]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "apnea" come from?
"apnea" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "apnea", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list