vilovsvisaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,132
“vilo” frequency rank
#6,743
“visa” frequency rank
47875
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vilo visa
Definition Véase en vilo Norma o convenio bilateral entre países para legalizar una entrada o estancia de personas en un país donde este no resida, tenga nacionalidad o libre tránsito, fundamentado por una razón bien definida.

Where the eye mixes vilo and visa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
vilo
4 ch
visa

Look-alike desk: vilo vs visa

A purely visual mix-up. vilo ([ˈbilo]) and visa ([ˈbisa]) 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 47875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vilo is recorded at frequency rank #41,132, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbilo]. visa is at rank #6,743, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbisa].

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 47875, this pair ranks #117,594 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vilo vs visa

Shared letters: iv. Private to "vilo": lo. Private to "visa": as.

"vilo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "visa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vilobilo · ivlo · villo · viol · vlio · vvilo
  • visabisa · ivsa · vias · vissa · vsia · vvisa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vilo" for "visa" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbilo] versus [ˈbisa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "vilo" or "visa" show up more?
"visa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,743 in our Spanish list, against #41,132 for "vilo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "visa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #117,594 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vilo" and "visa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vilo vs visos". 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 #117,594 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