lacvslawWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,497
“lac” frequency rank
#13,081
“law” frequency rank
61578
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lac law
Definition Lago. Ley₁₋₉.

Where the eye mixes lac and law

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

3 ch
lac
3 ch
law

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lac ([lak]) and law (/lɔː/) 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 a single letter - c in “lac” becomes w in “law”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61578, 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]. law is at rank #13,081, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɔː/.

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 61578, this pair ranks #54,971 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lac vs law

Shared letters: al. Private to "lac": c. Private to "law": w.

"lac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "law" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lac" and "law" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([lak] versus /lɔː/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lac" or "law"?
"law" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,081 in our Spanish list, against #48,497 for "lac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "lac" and "law". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "law" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,971 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lac" and "law" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lapa". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list