arsénicovsArsenioWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: arsénico is a noun, Arsenio is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“arsénico” is a noun and “Arsenio” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,240
“arsénico” frequency rank
#45,751
“Arsenio” frequency rank
73991
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arsénico Arsenio
Definition El arsénico es un elemento químico de la tabla periódica de los elementos cuyo símbolo es As y el número atómico es 33. En la tabla periódica de los elementos se encuentra en el quinto grupo principal. Arsénico se presenta raramente sólido, principalmente en forma de sulfuros. Nombre de pila de varón.

Where the eye mixes arsénico and Arsenio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. arsénico runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCV) against Arsenio's 7 (VCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
arsénico
7 ch
Arsenio

Why the eye confuses arsénico with Arsenio

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: arsénico is [aɾˈseniko] while Arsenio is [aɾˈsenjo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73991, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arsénico is recorded at frequency rank #28,240, classified as anoun, pronounced [aɾˈseniko]. Arsenio is at rank #45,751, tagged as aname, pronounced [aɾˈsenjo].

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 73991, this pair ranks #22,175 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of arsénico vs Arsenio

Shared letters: ainors. Private to "arsénico": . Private to "Arsenio": e.

"arsénico" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "Arsenio" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Arsenioarcenio · aresnio · arrsenio · arseino · arsennio · arsenoi · arsneio · arssenio

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "arsénico" and "Arsenio" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "arsénico" is a noun and "Arsenio" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "arsénico" or "Arsenio" show up more?
"arsénico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,240 in our Spanish list, against #45,751 for "Arsenio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "arsénico" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Arsenio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,175 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "arsénico" and "Arsenio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Arsenio vs Artemio". 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 #22,175 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