cedevssedeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cede is a verb, sede is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cede” is a verb and “sede” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,526
“cede” frequency rank
#1,532
“sede” frequency rank
18058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cede sede
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ceder. Asiento ceremonial del prelado de una diócesis.

Same sound, different letters: cede vs sede

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters. cede and sede follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
cede
4 ch
sede

Ear matches; page differs - cede and sede

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: cede and sede carry the same recorded pronunciation, [ˈseð̞e]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - c in “cede” becomes s in “sede”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cede is recorded at frequency rank #16,526, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈseð̞e]. sede is at rank #1,532, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈseð̞e].

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 18058, this pair ranks #269,508 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cede vs sede

Shared letters: de. Private to "cede": c. Private to "sede": s.

"cede" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "sede" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cedeccede · cdee · cedde · ceed · ecde
  • sedeesde · sdee · sedde · seed · ssede

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cede" and "sede" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cede" is a verb and "sede" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cede" or "sede"?
"sede" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,532 in our Spanish list, against #16,526 for "cede". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

"cede" and "sede" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cede" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sede" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #269,508 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cede" and "sede" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cede vs cederá". 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 #269,508 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