Which to use
“lac” and “lava” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,497
- “lac” frequency rank
- #8,980
- “lava” frequency rank
- 57477
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lac | lava |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lago. | Mezcla de distintos minerales derretidos, que brota de la tierra en las erupciones volcánicas. |
Where the eye mixes lac and lava
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lac runs 3 letters (CVC) against lava's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses lac with lava
A purely visual mix-up. lac ([lak]) and lava ([ˈlaβ̞a]) 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 57477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lac is recorded at frequency rank #48,497, classified as anoun, pronounced [lak]. lava is at rank #8,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaβ̞a].
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 57477, this pair ranks #70,360 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lac vs lava
Shared letters: al. Private to "lac": c. Private to "lava": v.
"lac" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lava" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lava ← laav · lavva · llava · lvaa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lac" for "lava" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lac" or "lava"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lac" and "lava" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lava" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,360 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lac" and "lava" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lapa". 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 #70,360 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.