pilónvspitónWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,991
“pilón” frequency rank
#47,992
“pitón” frequency rank
95983
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pilón pitón
Definition Receptáculo de piedra, que se construye en las fuentes para que, cayendo el agua en él, sirva de abrevadero, de lavadero o para otros usos. Punta del asta de un animal.

Where the eye mixes pilón and pitón

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

5 ch
pilón
5 ch
pitón

Visual trap between pilón and pitón

A purely visual mix-up. pilón ([piˈlõn]) and pitón ([piˈt̪õn]) 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 “pilón” becomes t in “pitón”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 95983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pilón is recorded at frequency rank #47,991, classified as anoun, pronounced [piˈlõn]. pitón is at rank #47,992, tagged as anoun, pronounced [piˈt̪õn].

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 95983, this pair ranks #421 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pilón vs pitón

Shared letters: inpó. Private to "pilón": l. Private to "pitón": t.

"pilón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pitón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pilón" and "pitón" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([piˈlõn] versus [piˈt̪õn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pilón" vs "pitón" - which ranks higher?
"pilón" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #47,991 in our Spanish list, against #47,992 for "pitón". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pilón" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pitón" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #421 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pilón" and "pitón" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pillen vs pilón". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #421 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