Which to use
“arcar” and “atar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,058
- “arcar” frequency rank
- #48,254
- “atar” frequency rank
- 67312
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arcar | atar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | arquear | apertar atilho com nó; amarrar; ligar; manietar: |
Where the eye mixes arcar and atar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: arcar vs atar
A purely visual mix-up. arcar (/ɐɾ.ˈkaɾ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arcar is recorded at frequency rank #19,058, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐɾ.ˈkaɾ/. 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 67312, this pair ranks #4,675 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of arcar vs atar
Shared letters: ar. Private to "arcar": c. Private to "atar": t.
"arcar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "atar" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "arcar" and "atar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "arcar" 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 "arcar" 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 #4,675 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arcar" 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 #4,675 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.