capillavscepilloWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,927
“capilla” frequency rank
#15,042
“cepillo” frequency rank
20969
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capilla cepillo
Definition Edificio contiguo a una iglesia, o parte integrante de ella, con altar y advocación particular. Utensilio consistente en un mango y una base, sobre la cual se fijan cerdas u otros elementos flexibles aptos para el cepillado. Existen diversos tipos, diferenciados por los materiales y por el uso al que están destinados.

Where the eye mixes capilla and cepillo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
capilla
7 ch
cepillo

Visual trap between capilla and cepillo

A purely visual mix-up. capilla ([kaˈpiʝa]) and cepillo ([seˈpiʝo]) 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 20969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capilla is recorded at frequency rank #5,927, classified as anoun, pronounced [kaˈpiʝa]. cepillo is at rank #15,042, tagged as anoun, pronounced [seˈpiʝo].

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 20969, this pair ranks #256,972 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of capilla vs cepillo

Shared letters: cilp. Private to "capilla": a. Private to "cepillo": eo.

"capilla" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "cepillo" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capillaacpilla · caiplla · capila · capilal · caplila · cappilla · ccapilla · cpailla
  • cepilloccepillo · ceipllo · cepilo · cepilol · ceplilo · ceppillo · cpeillo · ecpillo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "capilla" for "cepillo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kaˈpiʝa] versus [seˈpiʝo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "capilla" or "cepillo"?
"capilla" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,927 in our Spanish list, against #15,042 for "cepillo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "capilla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cepillo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #256,972 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "capilla" and "cepillo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "canillas vs capilla". 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 #256,972 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