bicovsboConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,914
“bico” frequency rank
#7,736
“bo” frequency rank
13650
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bico bo
Definition extremidade de entrada do sistema digestivo de uma ave bastão longo de madeira ou bambu, utilizado em artes marciais

Where the eye mixes bico and bo

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

4 ch
bico
2 ch
bo

Visual trap between bico and bo

A purely visual mix-up. bico (/ˈbi.ku/) and bo (/bo/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13650, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bico is recorded at frequency rank #5,914, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbi.ku/. bo is at rank #7,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bo/.

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 13650, this pair ranks #58,632 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bico vs bo

Shared letters: bo. Private to "bico": ci. Private to "bo": -.

"bico" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "bo" · 2 letters · shape CV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bicobbico · bcio · bicco · bioc · ibco

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bico" and "bo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbi.ku/ versus /bo/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bico" vs "bo" - which ranks higher?
"bico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,914 in our Portuguese list, against #7,736 for "bo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bico" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #58,632 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bico" and "bo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bo vs bué". 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 #58,632 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