Which to use
“mela” and “muela” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,235
- “mela” frequency rank
- #21,412
- “muela” frequency rank
- 59647
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mela | muela |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Manzana. | Disco de piedra que girando sobre otro o sobre la solera, muele lo que se interpone entre ambas piedras. |
Where the eye mixes mela and muela
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mela runs 4 letters (CVCV) against muela's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mela and muela
A purely visual mix-up. mela ([ˈme.la]) and muela ([ˈmwela]) 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 59647, 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]. muela is at rank #21,412, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmwela].
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 59647, this pair ranks #61,856 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mela vs muela
Shared letters: aelm. Private to "mela": -. Private to "muela": u.
"mela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "muela" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mela" and "muela" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mela" or "muela" show up more?
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 "mela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "muela" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,856 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mela" and "muela" 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 #61,856 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.