médulavsMellaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: médula is a noun, Mella is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“médula” is a noun and “Mella” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,204
“médula” frequency rank
#23,861
“Mella” frequency rank
36065
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature médula Mella
Definition Tejido graso, hematógeno y flexible que se encuentra en el interior de los huesos de los vertebrados Apellido.

Where the eye mixes médula and Mella

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

6 ch
médula
5 ch
Mella

Look-alike desk: médula vs Mella

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: médula is [ˈmeð̞ula] while Mella is [ˈmeʝa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

médula is recorded at frequency rank #12,204, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmeð̞ula]. Mella is at rank #23,861, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈmeʝa].

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 36065, this pair ranks #182,676 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of médula vs Mella

Shared letters: alm. Private to "médula": dué. Private to "Mella": e.

"médula" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "Mella" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mellaemlla · melal · mlela · mmella

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "médula" for "Mella" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "médula" is a noun and "Mella" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "médula" vs "Mella" - which ranks higher?
"médula" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,204 in our Spanish list, against #23,861 for "Mella". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "médula" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mella" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #182,676 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "médula" and "Mella" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "melaza vs Mella". 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 #182,676 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