Cauca
[ˈkawka]
The verdict
“Cauca” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #11,536 in Spanish word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #11,536
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Río que atraviesa 1.350 kilómetros a lo largo del occidente Colombia, con una cuenca hidrográfica de aproximadamente 63.300 kilómetros cuadrados. Nace en la cordillera de Los Andes y desemboca en e...
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 | Cauca |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | [ˈkawka] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #11,536 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Cauca” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for Cauca is 5 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈkawka]. Corpus data places it at rank #11,536 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for Cauca, with forms such as "acuca", "cacua", and "cauac". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cua", "cuc", "Cuba", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No explicit etymology string is stored 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 Cauca, spelled C-A-U-C-A.
Definition
- 1Río que atraviesa 1.350 kilómetros a lo largo del occidente Colombia, con una cuenca hidrográfica de aproximadamente 63.300 kilómetros cuadrados. Nace en la cordillera de Los Andes y desemboca en el río Magdalena. Se considera uno de los más importantes del país, por bañar tierras altamente productivas de nueve departamentos.
- 2Departamento de Colombia, ubicado al suroccidente del país, en la región del Pacífico. Coordenadas 3° 24′ Norte, 76° 40′ Oeste. Su territorio ocupa una superficie de 29.308 km².
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acuca,cacua,cauac,caucca,ccauca,cuaca
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Cauca - 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 "Cauca"?
What does "Cauca" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Cauca"?
How do you pronounce "Cauca"?
What language does "Cauca" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Cauca”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is C-A-U-C-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈkawka] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cua” - see the side-by-side comparison. Cauca vs cua
- 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.