penca
[ˈpẽŋka]
The verdict
“penca” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #46,112 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.
- #46,112
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pecíolo más o menos rígido y carnoso de las hojas de ciertas plantas consumidas como verdura, como la acelga, la lechuga o el pangue, que se prepara como alimento.
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 | penca |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈpẽŋka] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #46,112 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “penca” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for penca is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈpẽŋka]. Corpus data places it at rank #46,112 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 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for penca, with forms such as "epnca", "pecna", and "penac". 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, "pene", "pesa", "piña", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Spanish form is penca, spelled P-E-N-C-A.
Definition
- 1Pecíolo más o menos rígido y carnoso de las hojas de ciertas plantas consumidas como verdura, como la acelga, la lechuga o el pangue, que se prepara como alimento.
- 2Tronco óseo y carnoso de la cola de los rumiantes.
- 3Órgano que presenta el macho de los mamíferos, de forma eréctil, en el que desembocan los conductos del tracto génitourinario. En algunos animales se retrae en la ingle, y sólo se extiende durante la excreción y la cópula; en el ser humano no es retráctil. Está compuesto en su mayor parte por tejidos esponjosos, llamados cuerpos cavernosos, que al saturarse de sangre producen la erección.
- 4Estado de intoxicación producido por la ingesta de alcohol, que provoca una alteración de la conciencia y de las facultades mentales y físicas.
- 5(Agave spp.) Cualquiera de varias especies de plantas suculentas americanas; forman una gran roseta de hojas gruesas y carnosas, generalmente terminadas en una afilada aguja en el ápice y, a menudo, también con márgenes espinosos. Su maduración demora de 8 a 10 años y florecen sólo una vez, emitiendo un largo tallo de casi 10 m de altura que nace del centro de la roseta, hacia la mitad del tallo surgen ramificaciones con numerosos grupos de flores tubulares. Se emplean con varios usos, incluyendo la elaboración del tequila, el pulque y el henequén.
- 6Paipay.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: epnca,pecna,penac,pencca,pennca,pneca,ppenca
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of penca - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "penca"?
What does "penca" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "penca"?
How do you pronounce "penca"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “penca”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is P-E-N-C-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈpẽŋka] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pene” - see the side-by-side comparison. penca vs pene
- 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.