Which to use
“mela” and “melón” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,235
- “mela” frequency rank
- #19,799
- “melón” frequency rank
- 58034
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mela | melón |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Manzana. | (Cucumis melo) Planta anual de la familia de las cucurbitáceas; presenta tallos herbáceos, flexibles, rastreros, provistos de zarcillos, hojas con cinco lóbulos dentados y grandes flores de color amarillo. Su fruto es una pepónide de gran tamaño y variada apariencia según las subespecies; varias de estas son apreciadas por su intenso aroma y sabor dulce. |
Where the eye mixes mela and melón
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mela vs melón
A purely visual mix-up. mela ([ˈme.la]) and melón ([meˈlõn]) 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 58034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mela is recorded at frequency rank #38,235, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈme.la]. melón is at rank #19,799, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meˈlõn].
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 58034, this pair ranks #68,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mela vs melón
Shared letters: elm. Private to "mela": a. Private to "melón": nó.
"mela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "melón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mela ← emla · meal · mlea · mmela
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mela" for "melón" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mela" or "melón" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "melón" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mela" and "melón" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mela vs melaza". 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 #68,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.