melónvsmeoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“melón” and “meo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#19,799
“melón” frequency rank
#18,894
“meo” frequency rank
38693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature melón meo
Definition (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. Orina.

Where the eye mixes melón and meo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
melón
3 ch
meo

Why the eye confuses melón with meo

A purely visual mix-up. melón ([meˈlõn]) and meo ([ˈmeo]) 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 38693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

melón is recorded at frequency rank #19,799, classified as anoun, pronounced [meˈlõn]. meo is at rank #18,894, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmeo].

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 38693, this pair ranks #168,599 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of melón vs meo

Shared letters: em. Private to "melón": lnó. Private to "meo": o.

"melón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "meo" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "melón" and "meo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([meˈlõn] versus [ˈmeo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "melón" or "meo"?
"meo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,894 in our Spanish list, against #19,799 for "melón". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "melón" and "meo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "melón" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "meo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #168,599 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "melón" and "meo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "meo vs mur". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #168,599 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