muelavsmutuaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,412
“muela” frequency rank
#11,622
“mutua” frequency rank
33034
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature muela mutua
Definition Disco de piedra que girando sobre otro o sobre la solera, muele lo que se interpone entre ambas piedras. Asociación, entidad o agrupación con un régimen colectivo de servicios o prestaciones.

Where the eye mixes muela and mutua

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
muela
5 ch
mutua

Look-alike desk: muela vs mutua

A purely visual mix-up. muela ([ˈmwela]) and mutua ([ˈmut̪wa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

muela is recorded at frequency rank #21,412, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmwela]. mutua is at rank #11,622, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmut̪wa].

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 33034, this pair ranks #198,932 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of muela vs mutua

Shared letters: amu. Private to "muela": el. Private to "mutua": t.

"muela" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "mutua" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • muelameula · mmuela · mueal · muella · mulea · umela
  • mutuammutua · mtuua · mutau · muttua · muuta · umtua

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "muela" for "mutua" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmwela] versus [ˈmut̪wa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "muela" vs "mutua" - which ranks higher?
"mutua" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,622 in our Spanish list, against #21,412 for "muela". 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 "muela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mutua" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #198,932 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "muela" and "mutua" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mepa vs muela". 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 #198,932 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