zelo
/ˈze.lu/
The verdict
“zelo” is a moderately-common Portuguese word, ranked #22,503 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a noun.
- #22,503
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - dedicação ardente, afeição íntima, desvelo, cuidado, interesse
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 | zelo |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈze.lu/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #22,503 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “zelo” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for zelo is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈze.lu/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,503 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "dedicação ardente, afeição íntima, desvelo, cuidado, interesse".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for zelo, with forms such as "ezlo", "zello", and "zeol". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "zen", "zero", "Zeus", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Portuguese form is zelo, spelled Z-E-L-O.
Definition
- 1dedicação ardente, afeição íntima, desvelo, cuidado, interesse
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ezlo,zello,zeol,zleo,zzelo
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of zelo - 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 "zelo"?
What does "zelo" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “zelo”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is Z-E-L-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈze.lu/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “zen” - see the side-by-side comparison. zelo vs zen
- 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.