arcadevsarceTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,484
“arcade” frequency rank
#13,186
“arce” frequency rank
40670
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arcade arce
Definition 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. (Acer spp.) Cualquiera de varias especies de árboles y arbustos del hemisferio norte, de características hojas opuestas, muchas veces palmatilobuladas. Florecen formando inflorescencias en racimos, corimbos o umbelas de floros pentámeros, que fructifican en parejas de sámaras muy distintivas. Son una importante fuente de polen y néctar para la apicultura, y tienen varios usos comerciales, incluyendo el ornamental, la madera y la elaboración de jarabe. Es el árbol nacional de Canadá.

Where the eye mixes arcade and arce

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
arcade
4 ch
arce

Why the eye confuses arcade with arce

A purely visual mix-up. arcade ([aɾˈkað̞e]) and arce ([ˈaɾse]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arcade is recorded at frequency rank #27,484, classified as anoun, pronounced [aɾˈkað̞e]. arce is at rank #13,186, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaɾse].

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 40670, this pair ranks #157,852 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of arcade vs arce

Shared letters: acer. Private to "arcade": d. Private to "arce": -.

"arcade" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "arce" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arcadeacrade · aracde · arcadde · arcaed · arccade · arcdae · arrcade · racade
  • arcearcce · arec · arrce · arse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "arcade" and "arce" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aɾˈkað̞e] versus [ˈaɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "arcade" or "arce" show up more?
"arce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,186 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.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "arcade" and "arce" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "arcade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #157,852 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "arcade" and "arce" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abrace vs arce". 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 #157,852 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