Which to use
“maza” and “melaza” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,489
- “maza” frequency rank
- #49,136
- “melaza” frequency rank
- 68625
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maza | melaza |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arma antigua, hecha de palo guarnecido de hierro, o toda de hierro, con la cabeza gruesa. | Líquido más o menos consistente, de sabor muy dulce, que subsiste como residuo de la cristalización del azúcar de caña o de la remolacha. Se usa en la fabricación de ron, y como alimento edulcorante. |
Where the eye mixes maza and melaza
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. maza runs 4 letters (CVCV) against melaza's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between maza and melaza
A purely visual mix-up. maza ([ˈmasa]) and melaza ([meˈlasa]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68625, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maza is recorded at frequency rank #19,489, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmasa]. melaza is at rank #49,136, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meˈlasa].
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 68625, this pair ranks #34,003 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maza vs melaza
Shared letters: amz. Private to "maza": -. Private to "melaza": el.
"maza" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "melaza" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maza" for "melaza" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "maza" or "melaza" show up more?
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 "maza" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "melaza" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #34,003 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maza" and "melaza" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "melaza vs Melina". 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 #34,003 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.