linvslinceWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,734
“lin” frequency rank
#26,906
“lince” frequency rank
40640
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lin lince
Definition Lino. Mamífero carnívoro de la familia félidos, muy parecido al gato montés.

Where the eye mixes lin and lince

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
lin
5 ch
lince

Visual trap between lin and lince

A purely visual mix-up. lin ([lɛ̃]) and lince ([ˈlĩnse]) 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 extra letter(s) - “lin” sits inside “lince”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lin is recorded at frequency rank #13,734, classified as anoun, pronounced [lɛ̃]. lince is at rank #26,906, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlĩnse].

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 40640, this pair ranks #158,001 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lin vs lince

Shared letters: iln. Private to "lin": -. Private to "lince": ce.

"lin" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lince" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • linceilnce · licne · lincce · linec · linnce · linse · llince · lnice

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lin" and "lince" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([lɛ̃] versus [ˈlĩnse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lin" or "lince"?
"lin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,734 in our Spanish list, against #26,906 for "lince". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "lin" and "lince" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lince" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #158,001 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lin" and "lince" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lince vs livre". 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 #158,001 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