Which to use
“dilación” and “dilatación” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,585
- “dilación” frequency rank
- #31,318
- “dilatación” frequency rank
- 80903
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dilación | dilatación |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Demora, retraso o detención de un asunto o actividad por cierto tiempo. | Acción o efecto de dilatar o de dilatarse. |
Where the eye mixes dilación and dilatación
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. dilación runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against dilatación's 10 (CVCVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses dilación with dilatación
A purely visual mix-up. dilación ([d̪ilaˈsjõn]) and dilatación ([d̪ilat̪aˈsjõn]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80903, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dilación is recorded at frequency rank #49,585, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪ilaˈsjõn]. dilatación is at rank #31,318, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪ilat̪aˈsjõn].
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 80903, this pair ranks #11,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dilación vs dilatación
Shared letters: acdilnó. Private to "dilación": -. Private to "dilatación": t.
"dilación" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "dilatación" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dilación" and "dilatación" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "dilación" or "dilatación" show up more?
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 "dilación" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dilatación" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dilación" and "dilatación" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "datación vs dilación". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #11,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.