penitenciaría
[penit̪ẽnsjaˈɾia]
The verdict
“penitenciaría” is a moderately-common Spanish word, ranked #31,484 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.
- #31,484
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 13
- letters
- 19
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Establecimiento carcelario en que sufren sus condenas los presos, sujetos a un régimen que, haciéndoles expiar sus delitos, apunta a su enmienda y mejora.
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 | penitenciaría |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [penit̪ẽnsjaˈɾia] |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #31,484 |
| Misspellings tracked | 19 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “penitenciaría” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for penitenciaría is 13 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [penit̪ẽnsjaˈɾia]. Corpus data places it at rank #31,484 in overall Spanish word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 19 likely wrong-spelling variants for penitenciaría, with forms such as "epnitenciaría", "peintenciaría", and "penietnciaría". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "penitenciario", "penitenciarios", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Spanish form is penitenciaría, spelled P-E-N-I-T-E-N-C-I-A-R-Í-A.
Definition
- 1Establecimiento carcelario en que sufren sus condenas los presos, sujetos a un régimen que, haciéndoles expiar sus delitos, apunta a su enmienda y mejora.
- 2Dignidad, oficio o cargo de penitenciario.
- 3Tribunal eclesiástico de la corte de Roma, compuesto de varios individuos y un cardenal presidente, para acordar y despachar las bulas y gracias de dispensaciones pertenecientes a materias de conciencia.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: epnitenciaría,peintenciaría,penietnciaría,penitecniaría,penitencairía,penitencciaría,penitenciaraí,penitenciarría,penitenciaíra,penitenciraía,penitenicaría,penitennciaría,penitensiaría,penitneciaría,penittenciaría,pennitenciaría,pentienciaría,pneitenciaría,ppenitenciaría
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of penitenciaría - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "penitenciaría"?
What does "penitenciaría" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "penitenciaría"?
How do you pronounce "penitenciaría"?
What language does "penitenciaría" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “penitenciaría”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is P-E-N-I-T-E-N-C-I-A-R-Í-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [penit̪ẽnsjaˈɾia] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “penitenciario” - see the side-by-side comparison. penitenciaría vs penitenciario
- 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.