megafauna
/me.ɡaˈfaw.nɐ/ [me.ɡaˈfaʊ̯.nɐ]
The verdict
“megafauna” is uncommon Portuguese (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency Portuguese
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - designação paleontológica para o conjunto de animais, mormente mamíferos mas também répteis, aves e peixes, que atingiram grandes dimensões corporais, especialmente no período pleistoceno, grande p...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | megafauna |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /me.ɡaˈfaw.nɐ/ [me.ɡaˈfaʊ̯.nɐ] |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “megafauna” sits in Portuguese frequency
Rare enough to double-check
megafauna is uncommon Portuguese outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /me.ɡaˈfaw.nɐ/ [me.ɡaˈfaʊ̯.nɐ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for megafauna in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable Portuguese rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, 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 megafauna, spelled M-E-G-A-F-A-U-N-A.
Definition
- 1designação paleontológica para o conjunto de animais, mormente mamíferos mas também répteis, aves e peixes, que atingiram grandes dimensões corporais, especialmente no período pleistoceno, grande parte deles extintos no final da última glaciação há cerca de dez mil anos, o que coincidiu com a chegada dos seres humanos modernos em seus habitats
- 2designação comum aos grandes animais (como por exemplo grandes mamíferos africanos e asiáticos, como elefantes, rinocerontes, girafas, tigres, etc., mamíferos marinhos ou répteis como o dragão-de-comodo) que sobreviveram até o presente
- 3conjunto dos animais que têm maior abundância numa comunidade
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “megafauna”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is M-E-G-A-F-A-U-N-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /me.ɡaˈfaw.nɐ/ [me.ɡaˈfaʊ̯.nɐ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.