leónvslexWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,609
“león” frequency rank
#19,783
“lex” frequency rank
21392
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature león lex
Definition (Panthera leo) Felino del Viejo Mundo de gran tamaño, el mayor del mundo tras el tigre y una de las cuatro especies capaces de rugir gracias a la peculiar conformación de su hioides. Es distintiva la frondosa melena que orna el cuello de los machos adultos. Alcanzan los 225 kg de peso; su piel es normalmente pardoamarillenta, adaptada al mimetismo con su hábitat, la sabana africana, adonde están casi exclusivamente confinados hoy, tras haber habitado gran parte de Europa y Asia. Son predadores que forman manadas de un pequeño grupo de machos reproductores, varias leonas y sus crías inmaduras. Proyecto de ley presentado ante el pueblo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set león and lex apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
león
3 ch
lex

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. león ([leˈõn]) and lex ([leːks]) 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 21392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

león is recorded at frequency rank #1,609, classified as anoun, pronounced [leˈõn]. lex is at rank #19,783, tagged as anoun, pronounced [leːks].

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 21392, this pair ranks #255,142 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of león vs lex

Shared letters: el. Private to "león": . Private to "lex": x.

"león" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "lex" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

león#1,609
lex#19,783

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "león" and "lex" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([leˈõn] versus [leːks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "león" or "lex"?
"león" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,609 in our Spanish list, against #19,783 for "lex". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering león vs lex

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “león” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list