bala

[ˈbala]

/[ˈbala]/ noun

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

The verdict

“bala” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #5,799) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#5,799
frequency rank, Spanish
2,459
“B” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Proyectil sólido, normalmente de metal o piedra, usado como munición.

Corpus desk

Index ES-bala · bala · Spanish

bala · rank #5,799 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,799
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,459
  • PHOTO-FINISH aéreo

Nearest frequency peer: aéreo (-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.

Vecinos de frecuencia del confusable “bala”

Pares de peso similar en el corpus, aparte de los confusables abajo

corpus weight

What this shows Las barras sitúan “bala” frente a los lemas españoles más cercanos por rango, no un reprint del escritorio de confusables.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

bala vs bla
75% similar
bala vs bay
50% similar
bala vs ban
50% similar

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

Key facts for bala
PropertyValue
Headwordbala
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈbala]
Letters4
Frequency rank#5,799
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rango de corpus junto a confusables de “bala”

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).balacae aquí:

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

Los ticks avanzan en logaritmo; cada uno es del orden de diez veces más raro. En la misma franja de rareza aparecen “aéreo” (#5,798), “balón” (#5,800), “ayudará” (#5,797). Entre 2,459 lemas con “B”, “bala” va en #5,799. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for bala is neighbouring look-alikes ("bla", "bay", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ˈbala]. Frequency #5,799 among 2,459 “B” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for bala, with forms such as "balla", "bbala", and "blaa". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bla", "bay", "ban", and more, 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 its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Spanish form is bala, spelled B-A-L-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Proyectil sólido, normalmente de metal o piedra, usado como munición.
  2. 2
    Mercancía unida y compactada para facilitar su transporte.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Los Voluntarios de Madrid por su parte, abrieron fuego por hileras, la pieza de artillería escupió algunas metrallas, las balas de fusil hicieron diversos claros en el centro; pero a un amago de carga a fondo de la hueste, agitáronse los guías y la tropa española emprendió en orden hacia la villa su retirada.
  2. En mi caso, uno de los muchos trabajos que realizaba consistía en colocar dentro del pajar las balas de paja que mis hermanos introducían por el único orificio que había entre las paredes de aquel viejo edificio.

Synonyms

proyectilbalínfardopaca

This word in other languages

bullet(English)balle(Français)Kugel(Deutsch)bala(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • balla
  • bbala
  • blaa
  • vala

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bala - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

balla1bbala1blaa2vala1
Edit distance from "bala"

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 "bala"?
"bala" is spelled B-A-L-A. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈbala].
What does "bala" mean?
As a noun, "bala" means: Proyectil sólido, normalmente de metal o piedra, usado como munición.
What words are commonly confused with "bala"?
"bala" is commonly confused with "bla", "bay", "ban". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bala"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bala" is [ˈbala]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bala" come from?
"bala" 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 "bala", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

that#5,784reír#5,778Lisa#5,750like#5,748

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list