laúdvsluzWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,534
“laúd” frequency rank
#469
“luz” frequency rank
43003
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laúd luz
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. Radiación electromagnética visible al ojo humano.

Where the eye mixes laúd and luz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
laúd
3 ch
luz

Visual trap between laúd and luz

A purely visual mix-up. laúd ([laˈuð̞]) and luz ([ˈlus]) 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 43003, 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]. luz is at rank #469, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlus].

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 43003, this pair ranks #145,084 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of laúd vs luz

Shared letters: l. Private to "laúd": adú. Private to "luz": uz.

"laúd" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "luz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laúd" and "luz" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([laˈuð̞] versus [ˈlus]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "laúd" or "luz" show up more?
"luz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #469 in our Spanish list, against #42,534 for "laúd". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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 "luz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #145,084 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "laúd" and "luz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs laúd". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #145,084 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