locusvslucesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,043
“locus” frequency rank
#2,893
“luces” frequency rank
48936
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature locus luces
Definition posición fija en un cromosoma, que determina la posición de un gen o de un marcador genético. Forma del plural de luz.

Where the eye mixes locus and luces

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

5 ch
locus
5 ch
luces

Visual trap between locus and luces

A purely visual mix-up. locus ([ˈlokus]) and luces ([ˈluses]) 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 48936, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

locus is recorded at frequency rank #46,043, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlokus]. luces is at rank #2,893, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈluses].

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 48936, this pair ranks #111,672 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of locus vs luces

Shared letters: clsu. Private to "locus": o. Private to "luces": e.

"locus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "luces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • locuslcous · llocus · loccus · locsu · locuss · loucs · olcus
  • luceslcues · lluces · lucces · lucess · lucse · luecs · luses · ulces

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "locus" and "luces" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlokus] versus [ˈluses]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "locus" or "luces" show up more?
"luces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,893 in our Spanish list, against #46,043 for "locus". 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 "locus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "luces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #111,672 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "locus" and "luces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "locus vs lodos". 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 #111,672 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