Which to use
“ruina” and “runa” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,728
- “ruina” frequency rank
- #41,061
- “runa” frequency rank
- 50789
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ruina | runa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Proceso o acción de destruirse. | Cada uno de los caracteres angulosos de varios alfabetos derivados del itálico antiguo empleados por los pueblos germánicos durante la Antigüedad y el Medioevo. |
Where the eye mixes ruina and runa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ruina runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against runa's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ruina vs runa
A purely visual mix-up. ruina ([ˈrwina]) and runa ([ˈruna]) 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 50789, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ruina is recorded at frequency rank #9,728, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈrwina]. runa is at rank #41,061, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈruna].
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 50789, this pair ranks #101,345 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ruina vs runa
Shared letters: anru. Private to "ruina": i. Private to "runa": -.
"ruina" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "runa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ruina" for "runa" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ruina" or "runa" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ruina" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "runa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #101,345 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ruina" and "runa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "riba vs runa". 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 #101,345 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.