laúdvslayWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,534
“laúd” frequency rank
#35,585
“lay” frequency rank
78119
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laúd lay
Definition Instrumento musical antiguo de cuerda, formado por una caja de resonancia ovalada y abombada por la parte trasera, seis pares de cuerdas, y cuyo clavijero forma un ángulo muy pronunciado con el mango, que es corto. Composición poética medieval de los provenzales y de los franceses, destinada a relatar una leyenda o historia de amores, generalmente en versos cortos.

Where the eye mixes laúd and lay

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

4 ch
laúd
3 ch
lay

Look-alike desk: laúd vs lay

A purely visual mix-up. laúd ([laˈuð̞]) and lay ([ˈlaj]) 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 78119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laúd is recorded at frequency rank #42,534, classified as anoun, pronounced [laˈuð̞]. lay is at rank #35,585, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaj].

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 78119, this pair ranks #14,937 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laúd vs lay

Shared letters: al. Private to "laúd": . Private to "lay": y.

"laúd" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "lay" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "laúd" and "lay" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([laˈuð̞] versus [ˈlaj]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "laúd" vs "lay" - which ranks higher?
"lay" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,585 in our Spanish list, against #42,534 for "laúd". 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 "laúd" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lay" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,937 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "laúd" and "lay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs laúd". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #14,937 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