retama

[reˈt̪ama]

/[reˈt̪ama]/ noun

The verdict

“retama” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #83,368 among 4,151 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#83,368
frequency rank, Spanish
4,151
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mata de la familia de las leguminosas, de dos a cuatro metros de altura, con muchas verdascas o ramas delgadas, largas, flexibles, de color verde ceniciento y algo angulosas; hojas muy escasas, peq...

Corpus desk

Index ES-retama · retama · Spanish

retama · rank #83,368 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #83,368
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH resucitando

Nearest frequency peer: resucitando (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangos de cola larga cerca de “retama”

Banda escasa: las barras invierten el rango para que lo raro se lea más corto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista de cola larga: dónde “retama” se sitúa frente a rangos españoles igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for retama
PropertyValue
Headwordretama
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[reˈt̪ama]
Letters6
Frequency rank#83,368
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “retama” en español

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).retamacae en esta cola de rareza:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Los ticks avanzan en logaritmo; cada uno es del orden de diez veces más raro. Vecinos raros de la misma franja: “resucitando” (#83,367), “restablecieron” (#83,366), “retransmite” (#83,370). Entre 4,151 lemas con “R”, “retama” va en #83,368. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

retama is uncommon Spanish at frequency #83,368 among 4,151 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [reˈt̪ama]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Mata de la familia de las leguminosas, de dos a cuatro metros de altura, con muchas verdascas o ramas delgadas, largas, flexibles, de color verde ceniciento y algo angulosas; hojas muy escasas, peq...".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for retama, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No documented word history exists 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 retama, spelled R-E-T-A-M-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mata de la familia de las leguminosas, de dos a cuatro metros de altura, con muchas verdascas o ramas delgadas, largas, flexibles, de color verde ceniciento y algo angulosas; hojas muy escasas, pequeñas, lanceoladas; flores amarillas en racimos laterales y fruto de vaina globosa con una sola semilla negruzca. Es común en España y apreciada para combustible de los hornos de pan.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how retama appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. «El sotobosque de estos pinares es muy ralo y pobre en especies a causa de las condiciones tan desfavorables del sustrato. Aparecen frecuentemente la retama, el cantueso, la jara pringosa, el codeso (…)».

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 "retama"?
"retama" is spelled R-E-T-A-M-A. The IPA pronunciation is [reˈt̪ama].
What does "retama" mean?
As a noun, "retama" means: Mata de la familia de las leguminosas, de dos a cuatro metros de altura, con muchas verdascas o ramas delgadas, largas, flexibles, de color verde ceniciento y algo angulosas; hojas muy escasas, peq...
How do you pronounce "retama"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "retama" is [reˈt̪ama]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "retama" come from?
"retama" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Similar Spanish words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "retama", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list