ampliaçãovsamputaçãoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#8,419
“ampliação” frequency rank
#30,415
“amputação” frequency rank
38834
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ampliação amputação
Definition ato ou efeito de ampliar ou alargar remoção cirúrgica de um membro ou segmento de membro, de parte saliente (por exemplo: da mama) ou do reto e/ou ânus; apócope

Where the eye mixes ampliação and amputação

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ampliação (VCCCVVCVV) and amputação (VCCVCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
ampliação
9 ch
amputação

Visual trap between ampliação and amputação

A purely visual mix-up. ampliação (/ɐ̃.pljɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and amputação (/ɐ̃.pu.tɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 38834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ampliação is recorded at frequency rank #8,419, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐ̃.pljɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. amputação is at rank #30,415, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐ̃.pu.tɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.

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 38834, this pair ranks #27,551 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ampliação vs amputação

Shared letters: amopãç. Private to "ampliação": il. Private to "amputação": tu.

"ampliação" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVV  ·  "amputação" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ampliação" for "amputação" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ̃.pljɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /ɐ̃.pu.tɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ampliação" or "amputação"?
"ampliação" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,419 in our Portuguese list, against #30,415 for "amputação". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ampliação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "amputação" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #27,551 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ampliação" and "amputação" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ampliação vs aplicação". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #27,551 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