caducavscauceConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#34,921
“caduca” frequency rank
#15,038
“cauce” frequency rank
49959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caduca cauce
Definition Epilepsia. Lecho de los ríos y arroyos.

Where the eye mixes caduca and cauce

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. caduca runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against cauce's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
caduca
5 ch
cauce

Why the eye confuses caduca with cauce

A purely visual mix-up. caduca ([kaˈð̞uka]) and cauce ([ˈkawse]) 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 49959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caduca is recorded at frequency rank #34,921, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈð̞uka]. cauce is at rank #15,038, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkawse].

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 49959, this pair ranks #105,896 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caduca vs cauce

Shared letters: acu. Private to "caduca": d. Private to "cauce": e.

"caduca" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "cauce" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caduca ← acduca · cadcua · cadduca · caduac · caducca · caudca · ccaduca · cdauca
  • cauce ← acuce · cacue · caucce · cauec · ccauce · cuace

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caduca" and "cauce" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈð̞uka] versus [ˈkawse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "caduca" vs "cauce" - which ranks higher?
"cauce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,038 in our Spanish list, against #34,921 for "caduca". 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 "caduca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cauce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,896 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caduca" and "cauce" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caduca vs caduco". 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 #105,896 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