secciónvssecreciónConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,330
“sección” frequency rank
#25,448
“secreción” frequency rank
26778
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sección secreción
Definition Acción o efecto de cortar o de seccionar. Función de una célula o de un tejido orgánico de secretar, es decir, producir y excretar una substancia. Habitualmente es una función glandular.

Where the eye mixes sección and secreción

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. sección runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against secreción's 9 (CVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
sección
9 ch
secreción

Look-alike desk: sección vs secreción

A purely visual mix-up. sección ([sekˈsjõn]) and secreción ([sekɾeˈsjõn]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26778, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sección is recorded at frequency rank #1,330, classified as anoun, pronounced [sekˈsjõn]. secreción is at rank #25,448, tagged as anoun, pronounced [sekɾeˈsjõn].

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 26778, this pair ranks #229,988 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sección vs secreción

Shared letters: ceinsó. Private to "sección": -. Private to "secreción": r.

"sección" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "secreción" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sección" and "secreción" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([sekˈsjõn] versus [sekɾeˈsjõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sección" or "secreción"?
"sección" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,330 in our Spanish list, against #25,448 for "secreción". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "sección" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "secreción" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #229,988 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sección" and "secreción" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "secreción vs secreciones". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #229,988 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