amavsarmaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,454
“ama” frequency rank
#1,913
“arma” frequency rank
3367
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ama arma
Definition mulher que amamenta filho alheio instrumento usado para ataque e defesa

Where the eye mixes ama and arma

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
ama
4 ch
arma

Look-alike desk: ama vs arma

A purely visual mix-up. ama (/ˈɐ.mɐ/) and arma (/ˈaɾmɐ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3367, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ama is recorded at frequency rank #1,454, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɐ.mɐ/. arma is at rank #1,913, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɾmɐ/.

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 3367, this pair ranks #71,794 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ama vs arma

Shared letters: am. Private to "ama": -. Private to "arma": r.

"ama" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "arma" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • armaamra · aram · armma · arrma

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ama" for "arma" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɐ.mɐ/ versus /ˈaɾmɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ama" or "arma"?
"ama" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,454 in our Portuguese list, against #1,913 for "arma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "ama" and "arma" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ama" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,794 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ama" and "arma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs ama". 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 #71,794 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list