tabu
/ta.ˈbu/
The verdict
“tabu” has 5 generated spelling variants in the Portuguese index at frequency #14,249. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #14,249
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 917
- “T” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - medo ou proibição de origem religiosa ou social
Corpus desk
Index PT-tabu · tabu · Portuguese
tabu · rank #14,249 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #14,249
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 917
- PHOTO-FINISH telenovela
Nearest frequency peer: telenovela (+1 rank slots)
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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “tabu”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- subsistência
subsistência
85,757 corpus weight
- subsolo
subsolo
85,756 corpus weight
- tabu
tabu
85,752 corpus weight
- telenovela
telenovela
85,751 corpus weight
- temperamento
temperamento
85,750 corpus weight
- testado
testado
85,749 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “tabu” sits against the nearest ranked Portuguese headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | tabu |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ta.ˈbu/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #14,249 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tabu” sits in Portuguese frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around tabu (IPA /ta.ˈbu/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,249 among 917 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for tabu, with forms such as "atbu", "tabbu", and "taub". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tu", "tão", "Tal", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Portuguese form is tabu, spelled T-A-B-U.
Definition
- 1medo ou proibição de origem religiosa ou social
- 2assunto de que não se pode ou não se deve falar
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- atbu
- tabbu
- taub
- tbau
- ttabu
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tabu - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "tabu"?
What does "tabu" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "tabu"?
How do you pronounce "tabu"?
What language does "tabu" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar Portuguese words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tabu", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked Portuguese headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "tabu". Here's where to go from here.
- "tabu" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "tu". View pair
- 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #14,249 among Portuguese headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more Portuguese words in the "T" letter cohort. T–Z browse
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.