Which to use
“adotar” and “atar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,258
- “adotar” frequency rank
- #48,254
- “atar” frequency rank
- 54512
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adotar | atar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | assumir para si a responsabilidade jurídica de criar (criança ou adolescente): | apertar atilho com nó; amarrar; ligar; manietar: |
Where the eye mixes adotar and atar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses adotar with atar
A purely visual mix-up. adotar (/ɐ.dɔ.ˈtaɾ/, /ɐ.dɔ.ˈta/) and atar (/ɐ.ˈtaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54512, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adotar is recorded at frequency rank #6,258, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.dɔ.ˈtaɾ/, /ɐ.dɔ.ˈta/. atar is at rank #48,254, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.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 54512, this pair ranks #11,207 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of adotar vs atar
Shared letters: art. Private to "adotar": do. Private to "atar": -.
"adotar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "atar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "adotar" for "atar" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "adotar" or "atar" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "adotar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,207 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adotar" and "atar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "afã vs atar". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #11,207 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.