cateto

/kɐ.ˈtɛ.tu/

//kɐ.ˈtɛ.tu// noun

The verdict

“cateto” is uncommon Portuguese (frequency #95,527 among 2,140 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#95,527
frequency rank, Portuguese
2,140
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - cada um dos dois lados menores num triângulo retângulo (ao lado mais longo se dá o nome de hipotenusa)

Corpus desk

Index PT-cateto · cateto · Portuguese

cateto · rank #95,527 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #95,527
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH castra

Nearest frequency peer: castra (-3 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.

Ranks da cauda longa perto de “cateto”

Faixa escassa: as barras invertem o rank para o raro ler-se mais curto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista da cauda longa: onde “cateto” se situa face a ranks portugueses igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cateto
PropertyValue
Headwordcateto
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɐ.ˈtɛ.tu/
Letters6
Frequency rank#95,527
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cauda longa: rank de “cateto” em português

Esta escala corre do núcleo do português quotidiano (esquerda) até o rastro de formas raras (direita).catetocai nesta cauda de raridade:

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

Os ticks avançam em logaritmo; cada um é da ordem de dez vezes mais raro. Vizinhos raros da mesma faixa: “castra” (#95,524), “carreras” (#95,522), “chambre” (#95,539). Entre 2,140 lemas com “C”, “cateto” fica em #95,527. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cateto is uncommon Portuguese at frequency #95,527 among 2,140 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɐ.ˈtɛ.tu/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "cada um dos dois lados menores num triângulo retângulo (ao lado mais longo se dá o nome de hipotenusa)".

No misspelling variants are generated for cateto in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Portuguese form is cateto, spelled C-A-T-E-T-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    cada um dos dois lados menores num triângulo retângulo (ao lado mais longo se dá o nome de hipotenusa)

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. A soma dos quadrados dos catetos é igual ao quadrado da hipotenusa.

This word in other languages

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 "cateto"?
"cateto" is spelled C-A-T-E-T-O. The IPA pronunciation is /kɐ.ˈtɛ.tu/.
What does "cateto" mean?
As a noun, "cateto" means: cada um dos dois lados menores num triângulo retângulo (ao lado mais longo se dá o nome de hipotenusa)
How do you pronounce "cateto"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cateto" is /kɐ.ˈtɛ.tu/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cateto" come from?
"cateto" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "cateto", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Portuguese headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list