nopal

/[noˈpal]/ noun

Letters

5 characters

Frequency Rank

#40,420

in Spanish word usage

Misspellings

7

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

nopal is aSpanishnoun. It means: (Opuntia spp.) Cualquiera de unas 250 especies de cactus naturales del continente americano, con una estructura caulinar formada por segmentos redondos y planos (cladodios), cubiertos de dos clases... Pronounced [noˈpal]. Often confused with nota and nova.

Key facts for nopal
PropertyValue
Headwordnopal
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[noˈpal]
Letters5
Frequency rank#40,420
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of nopal in Spanish word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Spanish entry for nopal is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [noˈpal]. Corpus data places it at rank #40,420 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 Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for nopal, with forms such as "nnopal", "noapl", and "nopall". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "nota", "nova", "nope", 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 nopal, spelled N-O-P-A-L, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    (Opuntia spp.) Cualquiera de unas 250 especies de cactus naturales del continente americano, con una estructura caulinar formada por segmentos redondos y planos (cladodios), cubiertos de dos clases de espinas, que forman estructuras densas y enmarañadas. Se encuentran entre los más resistentes al frío de los cactos, distribuyéndose desde el Canadá hasta Argentina. Su fruto y los brotes tiernos, pelados de la cubierta espinosa, se consumen como fruta y verdura respectivamente.
  2. 2
    Penca del nopal₁, una paleta de pulpa comestible que se desprende de la planta, con la piel verde cubierta de espinas.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: nnopal,noapl,nopall,nopla,noppal,npoal,onpal

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for nopal

Misspelling Variants of "nopal"

nnopal6noapl5nopall6nopla5noppal6npoal5onpal5
Misspelling Variants of "nopal"

Frequency rank: #40,420 in Spanish

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nopal"?
"nopal" is spelled N-O-P-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is [noˈpal].
What does "nopal" mean?
As a noun, "nopal" means: (Opuntia spp.) Cualquiera de unas 250 especies de cactus naturales del continente americano, con una estructura caulinar formada por segmentos redondos y planos (cladodios), cubiertos de dos clases...
What words are commonly confused with "nopal"?
"nopal" is commonly confused with "nota", "nova", "nope". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "nopal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nopal" is [noˈpal]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nopal" come from?
"nopal" 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.

Nearby Spanish words

Other entries that begin with the letter N in our Spanish index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.