definanvsdesignanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#44,097
“definan” frequency rank
#38,639
“designan” frequency rank
82736
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature definan designan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de definir o de definirse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de designar.

Where the eye mixes definan and designan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. definan runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against designan's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
definan
8 ch
designan

Look-alike desk: definan vs designan

A purely visual mix-up. definan ([d̪eˈfinãn]) and designan ([d̪eˈsiɣ̞nãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

definan is recorded at frequency rank #44,097, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈfinãn]. designan is at rank #38,639, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsiɣ̞nãn].

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 82736, this pair ranks #8,921 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of definan vs designan

Shared letters: adein. Private to "definan": f. Private to "designan": gs.

"definan" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "designan" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • definan ← ddefinan · deffinan · defiann · definann · definnan · defnian · deifnan · dfeinan
  • designan ← ddesignan · decignan · deisgnan · desginan · desigann · desiggnan · designann · designnan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "definan" and "designan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈfinãn] versus [d̪eˈsiɣ̞nãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "definan" or "designan" show up more?
"designan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,639 in our Spanish list, against #44,097 for "definan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "definan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "designan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,921 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "definan" and "designan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "definan vs desfilan". 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 #8,921 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