arroiovsarrozWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,648
“arroio” frequency rank
#2,989
“arroz” frequency rank
34637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arroio arroz
Definition ribeiro planta da família das gramíneas com algumas espécies e muitas variedades bastante cultivadas cujo fruto é comestível

Where the eye mixes arroio and arroz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. arroio runs 6 letters (VCCVVV) against arroz's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
arroio
5 ch
arroz

Why the eye confuses arroio with arroz

A purely visual mix-up. arroio (/a.ˈχoj.u/) and arroz (/a.ˈʁo(j)s/) 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 34637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arroio is recorded at frequency rank #31,648, classified as anoun, pronounced /a.ˈχoj.u/. arroz is at rank #2,989, tagged as anoun, pronounced /a.ˈʁo(j)s/.

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 34637, this pair ranks #32,572 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of arroio vs arroz

Shared letters: aor. Private to "arroio": i. Private to "arroz": z.

"arroio" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV  ·  "arroz" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arroio ← aroio · arorio · arrioo · arrooi · raroio
  • arroz ← arorz · aroz · arrozz · arrzo · raroz

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "arroio" and "arroz" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/a.ˈχoj.u/ versus /a.ˈʁo(j)s/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "arroio" or "arroz"?
"arroz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,989 in our Portuguese list, against #31,648 for "arroio". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "arroio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arroz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,572 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "arroio" and "arroz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arraia vs arroio". 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 #32,572 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