katovskiloConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#39,830
“kato” frequency rank
#8,978
“kilo” frequency rank
48808
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kato kilo
Definition Gato Palabra clave radiofónica del ICAO y NATO para la letra K.

Where the eye mixes kato and kilo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
kato
4 ch
kilo

Why the eye confuses kato with kilo

A purely visual mix-up. kato (/ˈka.to/) and kilo ([ˈkilo]) 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 48808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kato is recorded at frequency rank #39,830, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈka.to/. kilo is at rank #8,978, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkilo].

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 48808, this pair ranks #112,406 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kato vs kilo

Shared letters: ko. Private to "kato": at. Private to "kilo": il.

"kato" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "kilo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • katoakto · kaot · katto · kkato · ktao
  • kiloiklo · killo · kiol · kkilo · klio

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kato" and "kilo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈka.to/ versus [ˈkilo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "kato" or "kilo" show up more?
"kilo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,978 in our Spanish list, against #39,830 for "kato". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kato" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kilo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #112,406 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kato" and "kilo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kano vs kato". 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 #112,406 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