rey

[ˈrej]

/[ˈrej]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“rey” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #492) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#492
frequency rank, Spanish
4,151
“R” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Monarca soberano de un reino.

Corpus desk

Index ES-rey · rey · Spanish

rey · rank #492 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #492
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH pregunta

Nearest frequency peer: pregunta (-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.

Vecinos de frecuencia del confusable “rey”

Pares de peso similar en el corpus, aparte de los confusables abajo

corpus weight

What this shows Las barras sitúan “rey” frente a los lemas españoles más cercanos por rango, no un reprint del escritorio de confusables.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

rey vs ro
33% similar
rey vs rr
33% similar
rey vs RM
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for rey
PropertyValue
Headwordrey
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈrej]
Letters3
Frequency rank#492
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rango de corpus junto a confusables de “rey”

De izquierda a derecha: las pocas palabras que cargan el habla diaria, luego la cola larga casi invisible.reycae aquí:

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

La escala es logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× más rara). En la misma franja de rareza aparecen “pregunta” (#491), “vos” (#493), “poner” (#490). Entre 4,151 lemas con “R”, “rey” va en #492. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for rey is neighbouring look-alikes ("ro", "rr", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ˈrej]. Frequency #492 among 4,151 “R” headwords. 10 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Zero misspellings are on record for rey in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ro", "rr", "RM", and more, 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, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Spanish form is rey, spelled R-E-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Monarca soberano de un reino.
  2. 2
    (♔, ♚) Trebejo del ajedrez, de movimiento limitado pero máximo valor, puesto que la imposibilidad de defenderlo acarrea la derrota.
  3. 3
    Naipe que lleva la figura de un rey₁, que vale 12 en la baraja española y 13 en la francesa.
  4. 4
    Persona o cosa de máxima calidad o importancia en algún aspecto.
  5. 5
    Persona que, en algunos juegos o celebraciones, desempeña el papel rector.
  6. 6
    Úsase como vocativo afectuoso.
  7. 7
    Antiguo paso de las danzas españolas^([definición imprecisa]).
  8. 8
    Persona que tiene por oficio o profesión cuidar cerdos.
  9. 9
    Entre algunas especies de insectos sociales, única hembra fecunda de la comunidad.
  10. 10
    (Gallus gallus) Macho de la gallina, de distintivo dimorfismo sexual que incluye una cresta roja en la cabeza y espolones en las patas.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Como a este rey Lisuarte, Dios por su merced de infante deseredado por fallescimiento de su hermano el rey Falangris, a él rey de la Gran Bretaña hizo, assí puso en la voluntad.
  2. Principalmente al Rey y a la Reina; los quales se disculparon con no aver podido hacer otra cosa de lo que hicieron en tomar la mitad del reino, pues al cabo el rey de Francia avía de goçar dél enteramente.

Synonyms

cocheroporqueroporquerizomaesareinagallo

This word in other languages

king(English)roi(Français)König(Deutsch)

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 "rey"?
"rey" is spelled R-E-Y. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈrej].
What does "rey" mean?
As a noun, "rey" means: Monarca soberano de un reino.
What words are commonly confused with "rey"?
"rey" is commonly confused with "ro", "rr", "RM". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "rey"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rey" is [ˈrej]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "rey" come from?
"rey" 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.

Similar Spanish words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

vos#493iba#500dio#481luz#469

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list