non

adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“non” is a regularly-used Portuguese word, ranked #6,793 in Portuguese word frequency and used as an adverb.

#6,793
frequency rank, Portuguese
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - não

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

non vs nu
33% similar
non vs nos
67% similar
non vs num
33% similar

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

Key facts for non
PropertyValue
Headwordnon
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechAdverb
Letters3
Frequency rank#6,793
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “non” 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). non 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 non is 3 letters long, classified as an adverb. Corpus data places it at rank #6,793 in overall Portuguese word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "não".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for non, a sign its spelling follows regular Portuguese conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "nu", "nos", "num", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Portuguese form is non, spelled N-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    não

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 "non"?
"non" is spelled N-O-N.
What does "non" mean?
As an adverb, "non" means: não
What words are commonly confused with "non"?
"non" is commonly confused with "nu", "nos", "num". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "non" come from?
"non" is a Portuguese word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “non”

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

  • The one correct Portuguese spelling is N-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “nu” - see the side-by-side comparison. non vs nu
  • 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