espigavsespinoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#35,029
“espiga” frequency rank
#27,982
“espino” frequency rank
63011
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature espiga espino
Definition Tipo de inflorescencia racemosa en la cual el eje es alargado, con cabillos muy cortos o sin ninguno, como en el trigo y el espliego; sus flores más jóvenes se ubican en el ápice del mismo. (Crataegus spp.) Nombre dado a unas doscientas especies de árboles y arbustos, de la familia de las Rosáceas y género Crataegus, que se encuentran en zonas frías de Europa, Norteamérica y Asia. Tienen ramas espinosas, flores blancas o rosadas, y decorativos frutos con forma de bayas rojas que aparecen en otoño y permanecen en el árbol durante el invierno, lo que los convierte en apreciadas plantas de jardín.

Where the eye mixes espiga and espino

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. espiga and espino follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
espiga
6 ch
espino

Why the eye confuses espiga with espino

A purely visual mix-up. espiga ([esˈpiɣ̞a]) and espino ([esˈpino]) 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 63011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

espiga is recorded at frequency rank #35,029, classified as anoun, pronounced [esˈpiɣ̞a]. espino is at rank #27,982, tagged as anoun, pronounced [esˈpino].

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 63011, this pair ranks #50,141 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of espiga vs espino

Shared letters: eips. Private to "espiga": ag. Private to "espino": no.

"espiga" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "espino" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espiga ← epsiga · esipga · espgia · espiag · espigga · esppiga · esspiga · sepiga
  • espino ← epsino · esipno · espinno · espion · espnio · esppino · esspino · sepino

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "espiga" and "espino" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([esˈpiɣ̞a] versus [esˈpino]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "espiga" or "espino" show up more?
"espino" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,982 in our Spanish list, against #35,029 for "espiga". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "espiga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "espino" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,141 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "espiga" and "espino" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espiga vs expira". 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 #50,141 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