cabellovscabildoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,440
“cabello” frequency rank
#7,394
“cabildo” frequency rank
9834
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cabello cabildo
Definition Cada uno de los pelos que crecen en la cabeza. Cuerpo o comunidad de eclesiásticos capitulares de una iglesia catedral o colegial.

Where the eye mixes cabello and cabildo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cabello and cabildo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
cabello
7 ch
cabildo

Visual trap between cabello and cabildo

A purely visual mix-up. cabello ([kaˈβ̞eʝo]) and cabildo ([kaˈβ̞il̪d̪o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cabello is recorded at frequency rank #2,440, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈβ̞eʝo]. cabildo is at rank #7,394, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈβ̞il̪d̪o].

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 9834, this pair ranks #300,688 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cabello vs cabildo

Shared letters: abclo. Private to "cabello": e. Private to "cabildo": di.

"cabello" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "cabildo" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cabello ← acbello · cabbello · cabelo · cabelol · cablelo · caebllo · cavello · cbaello
  • cabildo ← acbildo · cabbildo · cabidlo · cabilddo · cabilldo · cabilod · cablido · caibldo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cabello" and "cabildo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈβ̞eʝo] versus [kaˈβ̞il̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cabello" or "cabildo"?
"cabello" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,440 in our Spanish list, against #7,394 for "cabildo". 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 "cabello" and "cabildo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cabello" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cabildo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #300,688 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cabello" and "cabildo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabello vs Capella". 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 #300,688 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