apevsápiceWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,095
“ape” frequency rank
#14,267
“ápice” frequency rank
42362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ape ápice
Definition comida para cavalos topo, cume

Where the eye mixes ape and ápice

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ape runs 3 letters (VCV) against ápice's 5 (VCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
ape
5 ch
ápice

Why the eye confuses ape with ápice

A purely visual mix-up. ape (/ˈɑ.pe/) and ápice (/ˈa.pi.sɨ/) 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 42362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ape is recorded at frequency rank #28,095, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɑ.pe/. ápice is at rank #14,267, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.pi.sɨ/.

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 42362, this pair ranks #23,415 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ape vs ápice

Shared letters: ep. Private to "ape": a. Private to "ápice": ciá.

"ape" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ápice" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ape" for "ápice" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɑ.pe/ versus /ˈa.pi.sɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ape" vs "ápice" - which ranks higher?
"ápice" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,267 in our Portuguese list, against #28,095 for "ape". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ápice" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #23,415 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ape" and "ápice" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs ape". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #23,415 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