atavsAtomWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,716
“ata” frequency rank
#34,578
“Atom” frequency rank
43294
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ata Atom
Definition registro escrito do que se passou em uma reunião átomo.

Where the eye mixes ata and Atom

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
ata
4 ch
Atom

Why the eye confuses ata with Atom

A purely visual mix-up. ata (/ˈa.tɐ/) and Atom ([a'toːm], Plural: [a'toːmə].) 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 43294, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ata is recorded at frequency rank #8,716, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.tɐ/. Atom is at rank #34,578, tagged as anoun, pronounced [a'toːm], Plural: [a'toːmə]..

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 43294, this pair ranks #22,359 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ata vs Atom

Shared letters: at. Private to "ata": -. Private to "Atom": mo.

"ata" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "Atom" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Atomaotm · atmo · atomm · attom · taom

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ata" for "Atom" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈa.tɐ/ versus [a'toːm], Plural: [a'toːmə].) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ata" or "Atom"?
"ata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,716 in our Portuguese list, against #34,578 for "Atom". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Atom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,359 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ata" and "Atom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Atom vs atroz". 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 #22,359 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