baçovsbraçoTell them apart

Quick tell: baço is a adjective, braço is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“baço” is an adjective and “braço” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,254
“baço” frequency rank
#2,130
“braço” frequency rank
33384
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baço braço
Definition diz-se da cor sem brilho, embaciada um dos membros anteriores humanos

Where the eye mixes baço and braço

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

4 ch
baço
5 ch
braço

Visual trap between baço and braço

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: baço is /ˈba.su/ while braço is /ˈbɾä.sʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baço is recorded at frequency rank #31,254, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈba.su/. braço is at rank #2,130, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɾä.sʊ/.

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 33384, this pair ranks #34,163 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of baço vs braço

Shared letters: aboç. Private to "baço": -. Private to "braço": r.

"baço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "braço" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "baço" for "braço" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "baço" is an adjective and "braço" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "baço" vs "braço" - which ranks higher?
"braço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,130 in our Portuguese list, against #31,254 for "baço". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "baço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "braço" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #34,163 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baço" and "braço" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baço vs brio". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #34,163 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