urucum

/u.ɾuˈkũ/

//u.ɾuˈkũ// noun

The verdict

“urucum” is uncommon Portuguese (frequency #72,860 among 147 “U” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,860
frequency rank, Portuguese
147
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - árvore (Bixa orellana) nativa das zonas tropicais da América do Sul até o México ao norte, endêmica e bastante disseminada no Brasil; o mesmo que urucuzeiro

Corpus desk

Index PT-urucum · urucum · Portuguese

urucum · rank #72,860 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,860
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 147
  • PHOTO-FINISH vagabundagem

Nearest frequency peer: vagabundagem (+2 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.

Ranks da cauda longa perto de “urucum”

Faixa escassa: as barras invertem o rank para o raro ler-se mais curto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista da cauda longa: onde “urucum” se situa face a ranks portugueses igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for urucum
PropertyValue
Headwordurucum
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechNoun
IPA/u.ɾuˈkũ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#72,860
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cauda longa: rank de “urucum” em português

A frequência vai do punhado de palavras do dia a dia (esquerda) à cauda longa quase nunca usada (direita).urucumcai nesta cauda de raridade:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

A escala é logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× mais rara). Vizinhos raros da mesma faixa: “vagabundagem” (#72,862), “typhoon” (#72,852), “tusa” (#72,848). Entre 147 lemas com “U”, “urucum” fica em #72,860. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

urucum is uncommon Portuguese at frequency #72,860 among 147 “U” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /u.ɾuˈkũ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for urucum in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Portuguese form is urucum, spelled U-R-U-C-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    árvore (Bixa orellana) nativa das zonas tropicais da América do Sul até o México ao norte, endêmica e bastante disseminada no Brasil; o mesmo que urucuzeiro
  2. 2
    corante vermelho obtido de sementes secas e trituradas do urucum para uso culinário ou cosmético, tanto doméstico quanto industrial
  3. 3
    um dos nomes pelos quais é conhecida a cobra Bothrops alternatus, o mesmo que urutu

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how urucum appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Mas a moça atirou a quenquém longe. Então Macunaíma virou num pé de urucum. A linda Iriqui riu, colheu as sementes se faceirou toda pintando a cara.

Synonyms

urucuurucueirourucuubacoloraucotiaracruzeiracruzeirourutu-cruzeiro

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); 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 "urucum"?
"urucum" is spelled U-R-U-C-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /u.ɾuˈkũ/.
What does "urucum" mean?
As a noun, "urucum" means: árvore (Bixa orellana) nativa das zonas tropicais da América do Sul até o México ao norte, endêmica e bastante disseminada no Brasil; o mesmo que urucuzeiro
How do you pronounce "urucum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "urucum" is /u.ɾuˈkũ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "urucum" come from?
"urucum" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Similar Portuguese words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "urucum", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Portuguese headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list