Which to use
“cadeia” and “canela” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,838
- “cadeia” frequency rank
- #10,322
- “canela” frequency rank
- 12160
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cadeia | canela |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | local que serve de detenção temporária para criminosos de baixa periculosidade | casca da árvore chamada caneleira, uma especiaria de aroma e sabor agradáveis |
Where the eye mixes cadeia and canela
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cadeia (CVCVVV) and canela (CVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: cadeia vs canela
A purely visual mix-up. cadeia (/kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɐ/) and canela (/kɐ.ˈnɛ.lɐ/) 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 12160, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cadeia is recorded at frequency rank #1,838, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈdɐj.ɐ/. canela is at rank #10,322, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈnɛ.lɐ/.
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 12160, this pair ranks #60,515 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cadeia vs canela
Shared letters: ace. Private to "cadeia": di. Private to "canela": ln.
"cadeia" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV · "canela" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cadeia" and "canela" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cadeia" or "canela" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cadeia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "canela" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,515 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cadeia" and "canela" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "canela vs canja". 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 #60,515 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.