ki

/ˈkiː/

//ˈkiː// noun

The verdict

“ki” is a moderately-common Portuguese word, ranked #10,029 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a noun.

#10,029
frequency rank, Portuguese
2
letters
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - cão (mamífero domesticado - Canis lupus familiaris)

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

ki vs ko
50% similar
ki vs kia
67% similar
ki vs king
50% similar

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

Key facts for ki
PropertyValue
Headwordki
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkiː/
Letters2
Frequency rank#10,029
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ki” sits in Portuguese frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). ki lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Portuguese entry for ki is 2 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkiː/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,029 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "cão (mamífero domesticado - Canis lupus familiaris)".

ki doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular Portuguese conventions. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "ko", "kia", "king", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct Portuguese form is ki, spelled K-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    cão (mamífero domesticado - Canis lupus familiaris)

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 "ki"?
"ki" is spelled K-I. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkiː/.
What does "ki" mean?
As a noun, "ki" means: cão (mamífero domesticado - Canis lupus familiaris)
What words are commonly confused with "ki"?
"ki" is commonly confused with "ko", "kia", "king". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ki"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ki" is /ˈkiː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ki" come from?
"ki" 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.

Using “ki”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Portuguese spelling is K-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈkiː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “ko” - see the side-by-side comparison. ki vs ko
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list