Which to use
“lance” and “lanza” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,732
- “lance” frequency rank
- #3,715
- “lanza” frequency rank
- 17447
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lance | lanza |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | En el poema dramático y en la novela, suceso, acontecimiento, situación interesante o notable. | Arma formada por un asta de longitud considerable que en uno de sus extremos posee una punta afilada hecha de algún material resistente como hierro, piedra o hueso, entre otros. Se ha usado en casi todas las épocas y culturas por su facilidad de fabricación y de manejo. |
Where the eye mixes lance and lanza
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lance with lanza
A purely visual mix-up. lance ([ˈlãnse]) and lanza ([ˈlãnsa]) 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 17447, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lance is recorded at frequency rank #13,732, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlãnse]. lanza is at rank #3,715, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlãnsa].
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 17447, this pair ranks #272,072 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lance vs lanza
Shared letters: aln. Private to "lance": ce. Private to "lanza": z.
"lance" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "lanza" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lance" and "lanza" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "lance" or "lanza" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lance" and "lanza" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lanza" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #272,072 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lance" and "lanza" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lance". 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 #272,072 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.