bicovsboloWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,914
“bico” frequency rank
#2,560
“bolo” frequency rank
8474
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bico bolo
Definition extremidade de entrada do sistema digestivo de uma ave massa de farinha e outros ingredientes, geralmente doce, cozida no forno ou frita

Where the eye mixes bico and bolo

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

4 ch
bico
4 ch
bolo

Look-alike desk: bico vs bolo

A purely visual mix-up. bico (/ˈbi.ku/) and bolo (/ˈbo.lu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8474, 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/. bolo is at rank #2,560, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbo.lu/.

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 8474, this pair ranks #65,283 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bico vs bolo

Shared letters: bo. Private to "bico": ci. Private to "bolo": l.

"bico" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "bolo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bicobbico · bcio · bicco · bioc · ibco
  • bolobbolo · bloo · bollo · bool · oblo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bico" for "bolo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbi.ku/ versus /ˈbo.lu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bico" vs "bolo" - which ranks higher?
"bolo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,560 in our Portuguese list, against #5,914 for "bico". 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 "bolo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #65,283 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bico" and "bolo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bico vs bile". 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 #65,283 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