bilhãovsbiliãoConfusable pair

Quick tell: bilhão is a num, bilião is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bilhão” is a num and “bilião” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,380
“bilhão” frequency rank
#44,716
“bilião” frequency rank
51096
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bilhão bilião
Definition um milhão de milhões; 1.000.000.000.000 milhão de milhões (10¹² = 1.000.000.000.000)

Where the eye mixes bilhão and bilião

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
bilhão
6 ch
bilião

Look-alike desk: bilhão vs bilião

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bilhão is /bi.'ʎoŋ/ while bilião is /bi.ˈljɐ̃w̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “bilhão” becomes i in “bilião”, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bilhão is recorded at frequency rank #6,380, classified as anum, pronounced /bi.'ʎoŋ/. bilião is at rank #44,716, tagged as anadj, pronounced /bi.ˈljɐ̃w̃/.

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 51096, this pair ranks #13,910 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bilhão vs bilião

Shared letters: biloã. Private to "bilhão": h. Private to "bilião": -.

"bilhão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "bilião" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bilhão" and "bilião" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bilhão" is a num and "bilião" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "bilhão" vs "bilião" - which ranks higher?
"bilhão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,380 in our Portuguese list, against #44,716 for "bilião". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "bilhão" and "bilião" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bilhão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bilião" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #13,910 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bilhão" and "bilião" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bilião vs biliar". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #13,910 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