Which to use
“cálcio” and “cancro” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,642
- “cálcio” frequency rank
- #9,147
- “cancro” frequency rank
- 21789
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cálcio | cancro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | elemento químico de símbolo Ca, número atômico 20 e massa atômica relativa 40,078; não é encontrado livre na natureza, apesar de ser o quinto elemento mais abundante do planeta; é encontrado na forma de carbonatos, sulfatos, fluoretos, fosfatos, silicatos e boratos, como mármore, giz, pedra e cal; tem importantes aplicações nas ligas de chumbo e alumínio e como desoxidante de ferro, aço e cobre | tumor maligno |
Where the eye mixes cálcio and cancro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cálcio (CVCCVV) and cancro (CVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between cálcio and cancro
A purely visual mix-up. cálcio (/ˈkałsju/) and cancro (/ˈkɜ̃kru/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21789, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cálcio is recorded at frequency rank #12,642, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkałsju/. cancro is at rank #9,147, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɜ̃kru/.
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 21789, this pair ranks #48,392 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cálcio vs cancro
Shared letters: co. Private to "cálcio": ilá. Private to "cancro": anr.
"cálcio" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "cancro" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cancro ← acncro · cacnro · canccro · cancor · cancrro · canncro · canrco · ccancro
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cálcio" and "cancro" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cálcio" or "cancro"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cálcio" and "cancro" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cálcio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cancro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,392 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cálcio" and "cancro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cálcio vs caução". 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 #48,392 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.