bala

/ˈba.lɐ/

//ˈba.lɐ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“bala” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #3,374) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#3,374
frequency rank, Portuguese
840
“B” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - projétil com que se carregam armas de fogo

Corpus desk

Index PT-bala · bala · Portuguese

bala · rank #3,374 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,374
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 840
  • PHOTO-FINISH argumento

Nearest frequency peer: argumento (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Vizinhos de frequência do confusável “bala”

Pares de peso semelhante no corpus, aparte dos confusáveis abaixo

corpus weight

What this shows As barras situam “bala” face aos lemas portugueses mais próximos por rank, não um reprint da secretária de confusáveis.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bala vs boa
50% similar
bala vs bar
50% similar
bala vs ban
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bala
PropertyValue
Headwordbala
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈba.lɐ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#3,374
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rank de corpus junto a confusáveis de “bala”

Esta escala corre do núcleo do português quotidiano (esquerda) até o rastro de formas raras (direita).balacai aqui:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Os ticks avançam em logaritmo; cada um é da ordem de dez vezes mais raro. Na mesma faixa de raridade aparecem “argumento” (#3,373), “bicicleta” (#3,375), “cadê” (#3,377). Entre 840 lemas com “B”, “bala” fica em #3,374. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for bala is neighbouring look-alikes ("boa", "bar", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈba.lɐ/. Frequency #3,374 among 840 “B” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for bala, with forms such as "abla", "balla", and "bbala". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "boa", "bar", "ban", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Portuguese form is bala, spelled B-A-L-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    projétil com que se carregam armas de fogo
  2. 2
    fardo
  3. 3
    rebuçado; pedaço de doce enrolado em papel
  4. 4
    quantia grande ou considerável de dinheiro
  5. 5
    êxtase

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how bala appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Tinha de ser bom, afinal, custou uma bala.

Synonyms

nota

This word in other languages

bullet(English)bala(Español)balle(Français)Kugel(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abla
  • balla
  • bbala
  • blaa

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bala - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

abla2balla1bbala1blaa2
Edit distance from "bala"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bala"?
"bala" is spelled B-A-L-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈba.lɐ/.
What does "bala" mean?
As a noun, "bala" means: projétil com que se carregam armas de fogo
What words are commonly confused with "bala"?
"bala" is commonly confused with "boa", "bar", "ban". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bala"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bala" is /ˈba.lɐ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bala" come from?
"bala" is a Portuguese word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Portuguese words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bala", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Portuguese headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cadê#3,377open#3,348maia#3,341Hugo#3,408

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list