oréganovsórganoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#36,197
“orégano” frequency rank
#3,664
“órgano” frequency rank
39861
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature orégano órgano
Definition (Origanum vulgare) Herbácea aromática de la familia de la menta (Labiadas). Las hojas y flores se utilizan como condimento. Parte de un animal o una planta adaptada a una función.

Where the eye mixes orégano and órgano

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
orégano
6 ch
órgano

Look-alike desk: orégano vs órgano

A purely visual mix-up. orégano ([oˈɾeɣ̞ano]) and órgano ([ˈoɾɣ̞ano]) 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 39861, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

orégano is recorded at frequency rank #36,197, classified as anoun, pronounced [oˈɾeɣ̞ano]. órgano is at rank #3,664, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈoɾɣ̞ano].

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 39861, this pair ranks #162,274 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of orégano vs órgano

Shared letters: agnor. Private to "orégano": é. Private to "órgano": ó.

"orégano" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "órgano" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "orégano" for "órgano" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([oˈɾeɣ̞ano] versus [ˈoɾɣ̞ano]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "orégano" or "órgano" show up more?
"órgano" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,664 in our Spanish list, against #36,197 for "orégano". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "orégano" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "órgano" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #162,274 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "orégano" and "órgano" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "orégano vs Oregón". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #162,274 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