canillavscanillasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,774
“canilla” frequency rank
#49,493
“canillas” frequency rank
91267
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature canilla canillas
Definition Diminutivo de caña. Forma del plural de canilla.

Where the eye mixes canilla and canillas

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

7 ch
canilla
8 ch
canillas

Why the eye confuses canilla with canillas

A purely visual mix-up. canilla ([kaˈniʝa]) and canillas ([kaˈniʝas]) 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 extra letter(s) - “canilla” sits inside “canillas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

canilla is recorded at frequency rank #41,774, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈniʝa]. canillas is at rank #49,493, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kaˈniʝas].

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 91267, this pair ranks #2,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of canilla vs canillas

Shared letters: aciln. Private to "canilla": -. Private to "canillas": s.

"canilla" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "canillas" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • canillaacnilla · cainlla · canila · canilal · canlila · cannilla · ccanilla · cnailla
  • canillasacnillas · cainllas · canilals · canilas · canillass · canillsa · canlilas · cannillas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "canilla" for "canillas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈniʝa] versus [kaˈniʝas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "canilla" or "canillas"?
"canilla" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,774 in our Spanish list, against #49,493 for "canillas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "canilla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "canillas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "canilla" and "canillas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "canillas vs colillas". 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 #2,082 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