decaídovsdecanoWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#44,678
“decaído” frequency rank
#10,482
“decano” frequency rank
55160
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decaído decano
Definition Participio de decaer. Individuo que ha acumulado mayor antigüedad en un ente cualquiera.

Where the eye mixes decaído and decano

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. decaído runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against decano's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
decaído
6 ch
decano

Why the eye confuses decaído with decano

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decaído is [d̪ekaˈið̞o] while decano is [d̪eˈkano]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55160, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decaído is recorded at frequency rank #44,678, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪ekaˈið̞o]. decano is at rank #10,482, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪eˈkano].

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 55160, this pair ranks #80,151 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of decaído vs decano

Shared letters: acdeo. Private to "decaído": í. Private to "decano": n.

"decaído" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "decano" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decano ← dceano · ddecano · deacno · decanno · decaon · deccano · decnao · edcano

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decaído" and "decano" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decaído" is a verb and "decano" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "decaído" vs "decano" - which ranks higher?
"decano" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,482 in our Spanish list, against #44,678 for "decaído". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "decaído" and "decano" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decaído" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "decano" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #80,151 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decaído" and "decano" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decaído vs decid". 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 #80,151 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