Which to use
“tesón” and “timón” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,449
- “tesón” frequency rank
- #18,701
- “timón” frequency rank
- 66150
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tesón | timón |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Continuidad del esfuerzo hacia una meta, en especial frente a la fatiga o adversidad. | Máquina compuesta de varias piezas de madera formando un conjunto aplanado, que se coloca verticalmente en el codaste de las embarcaciones, asegurándola por medio de machos de bronce o hierro que encajan en otras tantas hembras que hay en él. Sirve el timón manejado, por la caña que se hace firme a su extremo superior o cabeza, para dar a la nave siempre que camina o está aproada a una corriente, todos los movimientos giratorios que son necesarios. En los buques de hierro se compone el timón de planchas del mismo material; y en las embarcaciones menores se reduce a una tabla; en muchas de estas suelen estar los machos clavados en el codaste. |
Where the eye mixes tesón and timón
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tesón and timón follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses tesón with timón
A purely visual mix-up. tesón ([t̪eˈsõn]) and timón ([t̪iˈmõn]) 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 66150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tesón is recorded at frequency rank #47,449, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪eˈsõn]. timón is at rank #18,701, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t̪iˈmõn].
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 66150, this pair ranks #40,626 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tesón vs timón
Shared letters: ntó. Private to "tesón": es. Private to "timón": im.
"tesón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "timón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tesón" and "timón" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "tesón" or "timón"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tesón" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "timón" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,626 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tesón" and "timón" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tejo vs tesón". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #40,626 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.