bilevsboxeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,325
“bile” frequency rank
#7,737
“boxe” frequency rank
57062
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bile boxe
Definition substância amarelo-esverdeada secretada pelo fígado dos vertebrados e que atua no duodeno auxiliando especialmente na emulsificação e absorção das gorduras (é armazenada na vesícula biliar) jogo de murro em que dois contendores, com luvas especiais, se defrontam; pugilismo

Where the eye mixes bile and boxe

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

4 ch
bile
4 ch
boxe

Look-alike desk: bile vs boxe

A purely visual mix-up. bile (/ˈbi.li/) and boxe (/ˈbɔ.ksɨ/) 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 57062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bile is recorded at frequency rank #49,325, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbi.li/. boxe is at rank #7,737, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɔ.ksɨ/.

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 57062, this pair ranks #9,566 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bile vs boxe

Shared letters: be. Private to "bile": il. Private to "boxe": ox.

"bile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "boxe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bilebbile · biel · bille · blie · ible
  • boxebboxe · boex · boxxe · bxoe · obxe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bile" and "boxe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbi.li/ versus /ˈbɔ.ksɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bile" vs "boxe" - which ranks higher?
"boxe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,737 in our Portuguese list, against #49,325 for "bile". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "bile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "boxe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,566 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bile" and "boxe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bile 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 #9,566 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