melena
[meˈlena]
The verdict
“melena” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #26,142 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.
- #26,142
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Cabello largo, peinado de tal modo que cae a los lados de la cabeza y junto a los ojos.
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 | melena |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [meˈlena] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #26,142 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 18 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “melena” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for melena is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [meˈlena]. Corpus data places it at rank #26,142 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for melena, with forms such as "emlena", "meelna", and "melean". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "meten", "melón", "Mella", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct Spanish form is melena, spelled M-E-L-E-N-A, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Cabello largo, peinado de tal modo que cae a los lados de la cabeza y junto a los ojos.
- 2Cualquier peinado del cabello largo que lo lleve suelto y abundante.
- 3Crines largas que ornan el cuello del león macho.
- 4Cabello suelto.
- 5Almohadilla o piel que se pone a los bueyes en la frente para que no les roce la cuerda o correa con que se les sujeta el yugo.
- 6Yugo de una campana.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: emlena,meelna,melean,melenna,mellena,melnea,mleena,mmelena
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of melena - 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.
Cite this page
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:
PlainSpell, “melena, Spanish word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/es/palabra/melena
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “melena”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is M-E-L-E-N-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [meˈlena] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “meten” - see the side-by-side comparison. melena vs meten
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Nearby Spanish words
Other entries that begin with the letter M in our Spanish index: