echovsecoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,839
“echo” frequency rank
#4,414
“eco” frequency rank
8253
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature echo eco
Definition Palabra clave radiofónica del ICAO y NATO para la letra E. Repetición del sonido causado por la reflexión de la onda sonora al chocar con una superficie rígida.

Where the eye mixes echo and eco

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
echo
3 ch
eco

Look-alike desk: echo vs eco

A purely visual mix-up. echo ([ˈɛko]) and eco ([ˈeko]) 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 8253, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

echo is recorded at frequency rank #3,839, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛko]. eco is at rank #4,414, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈeko].

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 8253, this pair ranks #305,558 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of echo vs eco

Shared letters: ceo. Private to "echo": h. Private to "eco": -.

"echo" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "eco" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • echoceho · eccho · echho · ecoh · ehco

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "echo" and "eco" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛko] versus [ˈeko]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "echo" or "eco" show up more?
"echo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,839 in our Spanish list, against #4,414 for "eco". 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 "echo" and "eco" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "echo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #305,558 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "echo" and "eco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eco vs EPL". 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 #305,558 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