Which to use
“bainha” and “banha” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,011
- “bainha” frequency rank
- #21,667
- “banha” frequency rank
- 51678
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bainha | banha |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | estojo de metal ou couro onde se enfia a lâmina de uma arma branca | gordura animal, especialmente a de porco |
Where the eye mixes bainha and banha
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. bainha runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against banha's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bainha and banha
A purely visual mix-up. bainha (/bɐ.ˈi.ɲɐ/) and banha (/ˈbã.ɲa/) 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 51678, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bainha is recorded at frequency rank #30,011, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɐ.ˈi.ɲɐ/. banha is at rank #21,667, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbã.ɲa/.
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 51678, this pair ranks #13,402 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bainha vs banha
Shared letters: abhn. Private to "bainha": i. Private to "banha": -.
"bainha" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "banha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bainha" for "banha" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bainha" or "banha" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "bainha" and "banha" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bainha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "banha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,402 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bainha" and "banha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baga vs banha". 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 #13,402 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.