centvscepoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: cent is a num, cepo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cent” is a num and “cepo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,409
“cent” frequency rank
#36,972
“cepo” frequency rank
72381
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cent cepo
Definition Cien. Madero grande, con agujeros calados para el cuello y manos, que se usaba para inmovilizar a los reos como parte de su castigo

Where the eye mixes cent and cepo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. cent (CVCC) and cepo (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
cent
4 ch
cepo

Why the eye confuses cent with cepo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cent is [t͡sent] while cepo is [ˈsepo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cent is recorded at frequency rank #35,409, classified as anum, pronounced [t͡sent]. cepo is at rank #36,972, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsepo].

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 72381, this pair ranks #25,461 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cent vs cepo

Shared letters: ce. Private to "cent": nt. Private to "cepo": op.

"cent" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "cepo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cent ← ccent · cennt · centt · cetn · cnet · ecnt
  • cepo ← ccepo · ceop · ceppo · cpeo · ecpo · sepo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cent" for "cepo" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cent" is a num and "cepo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cent" or "cepo" show up more?
"cent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,409 in our Spanish list, against #36,972 for "cepo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cepo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #25,461 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cent" and "cepo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ceba vs cepo". 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 #25,461 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