melanina
/mɨ.lɐ.ˈni.nɐ/
The verdict
“melanina” is a moderately-common Portuguese word, ranked #32,258 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a noun.
- #32,258
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - pigmento na forma de proteína, responsável pela cor dos fios de cabelo, da pele, das unhas e cerdas de pelos
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 | melanina |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /mɨ.lɐ.ˈni.nɐ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #32,258 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “melanina” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for melanina is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /mɨ.lɐ.ˈni.nɐ/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,258 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "pigmento na forma de proteína, responsável pela cor dos fios de cabelo, da pele, das unhas e cerdas de pelos".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for melanina, with forms such as "emlanina", "mealnina", and "melainna". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "menina", "melanoma", "mecânica", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct Portuguese form is melanina, spelled M-E-L-A-N-I-N-A.
Definition
- 1pigmento na forma de proteína, responsável pela cor dos fios de cabelo, da pele, das unhas e cerdas de pelos
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: emlanina,mealnina,melainna,melanian,melaninna,melannia,melannina,mellanina,melnaina,mleanina,mmelanina
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of melanina - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "melanina"?
What does "melanina" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "melanina"?
How do you pronounce "melanina"?
What language does "melanina" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “melanina”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is M-E-L-A-N-I-N-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /mɨ.lɐ.ˈni.nɐ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “menina” - see the side-by-side comparison. melanina vs menina
- 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.