abarcar vs abortar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“abarcar” and “abortar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,732
“abarcar” frequency rank: #20,175
“abortar” frequency rank: 63907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	abarcar	abortar
Definition	abranger	produzir antes do tempo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abarcar and abortar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

abarcar

7 ch

abortar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. abarcar (/ɐ.bɐɾ.ˈkaɾ/) and abortar (/ɐ.buɾ.ˈtaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abarcar is recorded at frequency rank #43,732, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.bɐɾ.ˈkaɾ/. abortar is at rank #20,175, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.buɾ.ˈtaɾ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 63907, this pair ranks #5,996 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abarcar vs abortar

Shared letters: abr. Private to "abarcar": c. Private to "abortar": ot.

"abarcar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "abortar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

abarcar ← aabrcar · abacrar · abaracr · abarcarr · abarccar · abarcra · abarrcar · abbarcar
abortar ← abbortar · aboratr · aborrtar · abortarr · abortra · aborttar · abotrar · abrotar

Frequency comparison

abarcar#43,732

abortar#20,175

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abarcar" and "abortar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɐ.bɐɾ.ˈkaɾ/ versus /ɐ.buɾ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "abarcar" or "abortar"?

"abortar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,175 in our Portuguese list, against #43,732 for "abarcar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering abarcar vs abortar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abarcar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable