espinasvsespinoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,403
“espinas” frequency rank
#27,982
“espino” frequency rank
39385
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature espinas espino
Definition Forma del plural de espina₁. (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 espinas and espino

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

7 ch
espinas
6 ch
espino

Look-alike desk: espinas vs espino

A purely visual mix-up. espinas ([esˈpinas]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39385, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

espinas is recorded at frequency rank #11,403, classified as anoun, pronounced [esˈpinas]. 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 39385, this pair ranks #164,785 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of espinas vs espino

Shared letters: einps. Private to "espinas": a. Private to "espino": o.

"espinas" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "espino" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espinas ← epsinas · esipnas · espians · espinass · espinnas · espinsa · espnias · esppinas
  • espino ← epsino · esipno · espinno · espion · espnio · esppino · esspino · sepino

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "espinas" and "espino" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([esˈpinas] versus [esˈpino]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "espinas" or "espino" show up more?
"espinas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,403 in our Spanish list, against #27,982 for "espino". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "espinas" 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 #164,785 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "espinas" and "espino" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espino vs expiró". 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 #164,785 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