ApolovsátomoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,672
“Apolo” frequency rank
#21,055
“átomo” frequency rank
37727
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Apolo átomo
Definition prenome masculino menor partícula em que se pode dividir um elemento, exibindo ainda todas as características típicas do comportamento químico desse elemento

Where the eye mixes Apolo and átomo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Apolo and átomo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Apolo
5 ch
átomo

Look-alike desk: Apolo vs átomo

A purely visual mix-up. Apolo (/a.ˈpɔ.lu/.) and átomo (/ˈa.tu.mu/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Apolo is recorded at frequency rank #16,672, classified as anoun, pronounced /a.ˈpɔ.lu/.. átomo is at rank #21,055, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.tu.mu/.

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 37727, this pair ranks #28,842 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Apolo vs átomo

Shared letters: o. Private to "Apolo": alp. Private to "átomo": mtá.

"Apolo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "átomo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Apolo ← aoplo · aploo · apool · appolo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Apolo" and "átomo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/a.ˈpɔ.lu/. versus /ˈa.tu.mu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "Apolo" or "átomo" show up more?
"Apolo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,672 in our Portuguese list, against #21,055 for "átomo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Apolo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "átomo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #28,842 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Apolo" and "átomo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "álamo vs átomo". 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 #28,842 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