catena

[kaˈt̪ena]

/[kaˈt̪ena]/ noun

The verdict

“catena” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #99,321 among 8,288 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,321
frequency rank, Spanish
8,288
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cadena de astroblemas que impactaron sobre la superficie de un cuerpo planetario.

Corpus desk

Index ES-catena · catena · Spanish

catena · rank #99,321 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #99,321
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,288
  • PHOTO-FINISH cautivan

Nearest frequency peer: cautivan (+4 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 “catena”

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 “catena” se sitúa frente a rangos españoles igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for catena
PropertyValue
Headwordcatena
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[kaˈt̪ena]
Letters6
Frequency rank#99,321
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “catena” en español

De izquierda a derecha: las pocas palabras que cargan el habla diaria, luego la cola larga casi invisible.catenacae en esta cola de rareza:

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

Los ticks avanzan en logaritmo; cada uno es del orden de diez veces más raro. Vecinos raros de la misma franja: “cautivan” (#99,325), “carbonatada” (#99,316), “capaciten” (#99,314). Entre 8,288 lemas con “C”, “catena” va en #99,321. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

catena is uncommon Spanish at frequency #99,321 among 8,288 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [kaˈt̪ena]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

catena has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Spanish form is catena, spelled C-A-T-E-N-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cadena de astroblemas que impactaron sobre la superficie de un cuerpo planetario.
  2. 2
    Conjunto de suelos genéticamente relacionados, cada uno de ellos vinculado con los otros por algunos de sus componentes.

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 "catena"?
"catena" is spelled C-A-T-E-N-A. The IPA pronunciation is [kaˈt̪ena].
What does "catena" mean?
As a noun, "catena" means: Cadena de astroblemas que impactaron sobre la superficie de un cuerpo planetario.
How do you pronounce "catena"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "catena" is [kaˈt̪ena]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "catena" come from?
"catena" 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 "catena", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list