cautela
/kaw.ˈtɛ.lɐ/
The verdict
“cautela” is a moderately-common Portuguese word, ranked #11,408 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,408
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - cuidado para evitar um mal
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cautela |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kaw.ˈtɛ.lɐ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #11,408 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cautela” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for cautela is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kaw.ˈtɛ.lɐ/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,408 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for cautela, with forms such as "acutela", "catuela", and "cauetla". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "costela", "cautelar", "cartel", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Portuguese form is cautela, spelled C-A-U-T-E-L-A.
Definition
- 1cuidado para evitar um mal
- 2precaução
- 3prevenção
- 4fração de lotaria
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acutela,catuela,cauetla,cauteal,cautella,cautlea,cauttela,ccautela,cuatela
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cautela - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "cautela"?
What does "cautela" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "cautela"?
How do you pronounce "cautela"?
What language does "cautela" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “cautela”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is C-A-U-T-E-L-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kaw.ˈtɛ.lɐ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “costela” - see the side-by-side comparison. cautela vs costela
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.