deavsdonWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#15,825
“dea” frequency rank
#1,033
“don” frequency rank
16858
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dea don
Definition Diosa. Cosa cualquiera que se da de forma voluntaria y gratuita.

Where the eye mixes dea and don

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
dea
3 ch
don

Why the eye confuses dea with don

A purely visual mix-up. dea ([ˈdɛ.a]) and don ([ˈd̪õn]) 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 16858, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dea is recorded at frequency rank #15,825, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdɛ.a]. don is at rank #1,033, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪õn].

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 16858, this pair ranks #274,503 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dea vs don

Shared letters: d. Private to "dea": ae. Private to "don": no.

"dea" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "don" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dea" and "don" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdɛ.a] versus [ˈd̪õn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dea" vs "don" - which ranks higher?
"don" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,033 in our Spanish list, against #15,825 for "dea". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "dea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "don" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #274,503 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dea" and "don" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dea vs Deva". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #274,503 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