perna de pau
The verdict
“perna de pau” is uncommon Portuguese (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency Portuguese
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - peça de madeira usada em substituição da parte amputada de uma perna
Corpus desk
Index PT-perna-de-pau · perna de pau · Portuguese
perna de pau · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | perna de pau |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Cauda longa: rank de “perna de pau” em português
Rare enough to double-check
perna de pau is uncommon Portuguese outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for perna de pau in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Portuguese patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, 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 perna de pau, spelled P-E-R-N-A- -D-E- -P-A-U.
Definition
- 1peça de madeira usada em substituição da parte amputada de uma perna
- 2pessoa a quem falta uma perna ou tem uma delas defeituosa; perneta
- 3jogador de má qualidade; perneta (Uso: informal, pejorativo)
- 4haste de madeira usada para andar, usada principalmente por artistas circenses
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how perna de pau appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
O português do Brasil ginga, mexe, remexe, efervesce, queima, manda brasa e passa a perna em tudo e todos com suas reformas ortográficas e vernaculares a que insiste, como um pirata da perna de pau, lá no alto da popa, de chamar de "acordo ortográfico"
Anteontem de madrugada, o aposentado Hozanar Ferreira da Silva, de 73 anos, garante ter visto um morador apoiando-se nas paredes das casas com uma perna de pau, para evitar se molhar.
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.