alcaidevsarcadeConfusable pair

Which to use

“alcaide” and “arcade” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,655
“alcaide” frequency rank
#27,484
“arcade” frequency rank
51139
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alcaide arcade
Definition Funcionario designado por el rey para la defensa de una fortaleza durante el Medioevo. Máquina electrónica usada para el ocio o la diversión, normalmente conteniendo algún videojuego, pero también se puede incluir en ellas a los pinballs, tragaperras u otros tipos.

Where the eye mixes alcaide and arcade

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
alcaide
6 ch
arcade

Why the eye confuses alcaide with arcade

A purely visual mix-up. alcaide ([alˈkajð̞e]) and arcade ([aɾˈkað̞e]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alcaide is recorded at frequency rank #23,655, classified as anoun, pronounced [alˈkajð̞e]. arcade is at rank #27,484, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aɾˈkað̞e].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 51139, this pair ranks #99,471 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alcaide vs arcade

Shared letters: acde. Private to "alcaide": il. Private to "arcade": r.

"alcaide" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV  ·  "arcade" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alcaideaclaide · alacide · alcadie · alcaidde · alcaied · alccaide · alciade · allcaide
  • arcadeacrade · aracde · arcadde · arcaed · arccade · arcdae · arrcade · racade

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alcaide" and "arcade" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([alˈkajð̞e] versus [aɾˈkað̞e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alcaide" or "arcade"?
"alcaide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,655 in our Spanish list, against #27,484 for "arcade". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alcaide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arcade" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #99,471 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alcaide" and "arcade" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alcaide vs Alcides". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #99,471 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list