mesuravsmuestraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,485
“mesura” frequency rank
#751
“muestra” frequency rank
42236
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mesura muestra
Definition Gravedad, compostura. Acción o efecto de exhibir.

Where the eye mixes mesura and muestra

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mesura runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against muestra's 7 (CVVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
mesura
7 ch
muestra

Why the eye confuses mesura with muestra

A purely visual mix-up. mesura ([meˈsuɾa]) and muestra ([ˈmwest̪ɾa]) 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 42236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mesura is recorded at frequency rank #41,485, classified as anoun, pronounced [meˈsuɾa]. muestra is at rank #751, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmwest̪ɾa].

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 42236, this pair ranks #149,365 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mesura vs muestra

Shared letters: aemrsu. Private to "mesura": -. Private to "muestra": t.

"mesura" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "muestra" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mesura ← emsura · mesrua · messura · mesuar · mesurra · meusra · mmesura · mseura
  • muestra ← meustra · mmuestra · muesrta · muesstra · muestar · muestrra · muesttra · muetsra

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mesura" and "muestra" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([meˈsuɾa] versus [ˈmwest̪ɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mesura" or "muestra"?
"muestra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #751 in our Spanish list, against #41,485 for "mesura". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mesura" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "muestra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #149,365 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mesura" and "muestra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mesera vs mesura". 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 #149,365 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