lava

[ˈlaβ̞a]

/[ˈlaβ̞a]/ noun

The verdict

“lava” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #8,980) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#8,980
frequency rank, Spanish
2,069
“L” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mezcla de distintos minerales derretidos, que brota de la tierra en las erupciones volcánicas.

Corpus desk

Index ES-lava · lava · Spanish

lava · rank #8,980 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,980
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,069
  • PHOTO-FINISH laterales

Nearest frequency peer: laterales (-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 “lava”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Las barras sitúan “lava” 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).

lava vs lea
50% similar
lava vs law
50% similar
lava vs Loa
25% similar

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

Key facts for lava
PropertyValue
Headwordlava
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈlaβ̞a]
Letters4
Frequency rank#8,980
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rango de corpus junto a confusables de “lava”

Esta escala corre desde el núcleo del español cotidiano (izquierda) hasta el rastro de formas rara vez usadas (derecha).lavacae aquí:

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

El eje es logarítmico: cada tick marca unas diez veces menos frecuencia. En la misma franja de rareza aparecen “laterales” (#8,979), “licitación” (#8,981), “kilo” (#8,978). Entre 2,069 lemas con “L”, “lava” va en #8,980. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for lava is neighbouring look-alikes ("lea", "law", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ˈlaβ̞a]. Frequency #8,980 among 2,069 “L” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for lava, with forms such as "laav", "lavva", and "llava". 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, "lea", "law", "Loa", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct Spanish form is lava, spelled L-A-V-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mezcla de distintos minerales derretidos, que brota de la tierra en las erupciones volcánicas.
  2. 2
    Mineral sólido que resulta de la erupción de un volcán al enfriarse, y que se emplea en la construcción y otros usos.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Las lavas fluyen de los cráteres y se derraman sobre la superficie formando coladas. El flujo de las lavas depende de la viscosidad, volumen, temperatura y de su composición, así como de la topografía
  2. Sigue otra sala de mármoles, otra de tierras calcáreas, otra de cuarzos, cristales y piedras duras, otra de sustancias vitrificables y productos volcánicos, donde hay crecida porción de diferentes lavas, la mayor parte del Vesubio

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • laav
  • lavva
  • llava
  • lvaa

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lava - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

laav2lavva1llava1lvaa2
Edit distance from "lava"

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 "lava"?
"lava" is spelled L-A-V-A. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈlaβ̞a].
What does "lava" mean?
As a noun, "lava" means: Mezcla de distintos minerales derretidos, que brota de la tierra en las erupciones volcánicas.
What words are commonly confused with "lava"?
"lava" is commonly confused with "lea", "law", "Loa". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "lava"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lava" is [ˈlaβ̞a]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lava" come from?
"lava" 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 "lava", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list