palo santo

Name: palo santo, Spanish Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

[ˈpalo ˈsãn̪t̪o]

/[ˈpalo ˈsãn̪t̪o]/ phrase

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“palo santo” is uncommon Spanish (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency Spanish: 10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - (Acer monspessulanum) Especie de árbol perteneciente a la familia de las sapindáceas.

Corpus desk

Index ES-palo-santo · palo santo · Spanish

palo santo · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
LEN-MEGA 10 letters
VOW-4 4 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-0 0 variants
BOOK-THIN "P" thin
PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for palo santo
Property	Value
Headword	palo santo
Language	Spanish
Part of speech	Phrase
IPA	[ˈpalo ˈsãn̪t̪o]
Letters	10
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “palo santo” sits in Spanish frequency

palo santo falls outside the top-100,000 ranked Spanish words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

palo santo is uncommon Spanish outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed [ˈpalo ˈsãn̪t̪o]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 14 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for palo santo, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Spanish form is palo santo, spelled P-A-L-O- -S-A-N-T-O.

Definition

1
(Acer monspessulanum) Especie de árbol perteneciente a la familia de las sapindáceas.
2
(Amelanchier ovalis) Especie de planta de los llamados guillomos de la familia de las rosáceas.
3
(Bulnesia sarmientoi) Especie de árbol del Gran Chaco.
4
(Bursera graveolens) Especie de planta de la familia Burseraceae que crece en bosques secos en gran parte de la América tropical, en la costa pacífica de Sudamérica.
5
(Ceiba pentandra) Árbol de la familia Malvaceae.
6
(Dasyphyllum diacanthoides) Especie de planta con flores en la familia Asteraceae.
7
(Diospyros kaki) Especie arbórea de la familia de las ebenáceas, originario de Asia.
8
(Diospyros lotus) Especie del género Diospyros originaria de la zona subtropical del suroeste de Asia y del sureste de Europa, y una de las plantas cultivadas desde más antiguo.
9
(Diphysa suberosa) Especie botánica, arbusto perenne de la subfamilia de las Faboideae. Es nativa del norte de México.
10
(Fouquieria formosa) Especie de arbusto perteneciente a la familia Fouquieriaceae, nativa del centro y sur de México.
11
(Guaiacum) Cualquiera de los árboles o arbustos del género Guayacum, nativos de Sudamérica.
12
(Porlieria chilensis) Árbol de la familia Zygophyllaceae, endémico de la Zona Central de Chile.
13
(Rhamnus alaternus) Pequeño árbol perenne y dioico de la familia de las ramnáceas característico de la región del Mediterráneo.
14
(Weinmannia trichosperma) Especie botánica de árbol perennifolio en la familia de las Cunoniaceae, es endémica de sitios boscosos húmedos cordilleranos de Chile y de Argentina.

Synonyms

arce de Montpellierenguelguemundilloabellomoamelancheroamelanchierobellomerabullomeracarrasquilla carronécormieracorneracornijillocornijuelocornillocornéscorruñé criñoleracriñoneracurñacurñeracurniacurnieracurronécurruñécurrunédurillodurillo agriodurillo blancoescalloneraescobizosespino-majuelo de fruto negrogriñalgrijoleragrilloneragriñolégriñoleragriñueloguillomaguillomeraguillomeroguillomoguiñoleragullomoibiocaívera ceiba ceibopochotehuimbayaxchétrevo caquiguayacanaguayacán africanolodoñerolodoñero africanoloto africanoárbol de San Andréscorchoguayacoguayacán guayacánhuayacánaladierna aladierno alaterno carrasquilla tineo tenío

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "palo santo"?

"palo santo" is spelled P-A-L-O- -S-A-N-T-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈpalo ˈsãn̪t̪o].

What does "palo santo" mean?

As a phrase, "palo santo" means: (Acer monspessulanum) Especie de árbol perteneciente a la familia de las sapindáceas.

How do you pronounce "palo santo"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "palo santo" is [ˈpalo ˈsãn̪t̪o]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What language does "palo santo" come from?

"palo santo" is a Spanish word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.

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.

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.