Which to use
“magic” and “maíz” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,755
- “magic” frequency rank
- #4,806
- “maíz” frequency rank
- 22561
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | magic | maíz |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Magia. | (Zea mays) Planta anual, herbácea, de la familia de las poáceas, originaria de América y hoy cultivada en todo el mundo como alimento. Tiene tallos erectos, en forma de caña, de hasta 3 m de altura, hojas densamente apretadas que protegen las inflorescencias femeninas y un penacho terminal de flores masculinas. La espádice femenina se transforma en un fruto compuesto llamado mazorca, con los granos dispuestos en hileras sobre un eje leñoso |
Where the eye mixes magic and maíz
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses magic with maíz
A purely visual mix-up. magic (/ˈmæd͡ʒ.ɪk/) and maíz ([maˈis]) 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 22561, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
magic is recorded at frequency rank #17,755, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmæd͡ʒ.ɪk/. maíz is at rank #4,806, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maˈis].
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 22561, this pair ranks #249,741 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of magic vs maíz
Shared letters: am. Private to "magic": cgi. Private to "maíz": zí.
"magic" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "maíz" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- magic ← amgic · magci · maggic · magicc · maigc · mgaic · mmagic
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "magic" for "maíz" ever safe?
Frequency check: "magic" vs "maíz" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "magic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maíz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #249,741 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "magic" and "maíz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "magic vs magro". 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 #249,741 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.