lavar
/lɐ.ˈvaɾ/
The verdict
“lavar” is a regularly-used Portuguese word, ranked #3,336 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a verb.
- #3,336
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - limpar (algo) por ação de um líquido, especialmente água
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 | lavar |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /lɐ.ˈvaɾ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #3,336 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lavar” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for lavar is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /lɐ.ˈvaɾ/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,336 in overall Portuguese word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for lavar, with forms such as "alvar", "laavr", and "lavarr". 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, "leva", "luva", "luar", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct Portuguese form is lavar, spelled L-A-V-A-R.
Definition
- 1limpar (algo) por ação de um líquido, especialmente água
- 2cercar ou passar junto de; banhar
- 3tornar (cor) mais suave, misturando com água; diluir
- 4tornar legal (dinheiro ilícito) por meio de fraude
- 5dar ou tomar banho
- 6trabalhar como lavadeira
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alvar,laavr,lavarr,lavvar,llavar,lvaar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lavar - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "lavar"?
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Using “lavar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is L-A-V-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /lɐ.ˈvaɾ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “leva” - see the side-by-side comparison. lavar vs leva
- 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.