lagovslátigoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,784
“lago” frequency rank
#22,761
“látigo” frequency rank
25545
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lago látigo
Definition Cuerpo de agua, generalmente dulce, de tamaño considerable, que se encuentra separado del mar. Azote largo, delgado y flexible, de cuero, cuerda, ballena u otra materia, con que se aviva y castiga sobre todo a las caballerías.

Where the eye mixes lago and látigo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lago runs 4 letters (CVCV) against látigo's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
lago
6 ch
látigo

Why the eye confuses lago with látigo

A purely visual mix-up. lago ([ˈlaɣ̞o]) and látigo ([ˈlat̪iɣ̞o]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lago is recorded at frequency rank #2,784, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɣ̞o]. látigo is at rank #22,761, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlat̪iɣ̞o].

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 25545, this pair ranks #235,952 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lago vs látigo

Shared letters: glo. Private to "lago": a. Private to "látigo": itá.

"lago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "látigo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lago ← laggo · laog · lgao · llago

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lago" and "látigo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlaɣ̞o] versus [ˈlat̪iɣ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "lago" or "látigo" show up more?
"lago" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,784 in our Spanish list, against #22,761 for "látigo". 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 "lago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "látigo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #235,952 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lago" and "látigo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lacio vs látigo". 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 #235,952 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