melónvsmesónWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,799
“melón” frequency rank
#37,216
“mesón” frequency rank
57015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature melón mesón
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. Establecimiento comercial antiguo o rústico destinado al hospedaje de viajeros y el expendio de bebida y comida para consumir en las propias instalaciones.

Where the eye mixes melón and mesón

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
melón
5 ch
mesón

Look-alike desk: melón vs mesón

A purely visual mix-up. melón ([meˈlõn]) and mesón ([meˈsõn]) 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 a single letter - l in “melón” becomes s in “mesón”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57015, 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]. mesón is at rank #37,216, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meˈsõn].

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 57015, this pair ranks #72,216 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of melón vs mesón

Shared letters: emnó. Private to "melón": l. Private to "mesón": s.

"melón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "mesón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "melón" and "mesón" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([meˈlõn] versus [meˈsõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "melón" or "mesón" show up more?
"melón" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,799 in our Spanish list, against #37,216 for "mesón". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "melón" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mesón" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,216 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "melón" and "mesón" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mesón vs mirón". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #72,216 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