Which to use
“capelão” and “capitão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,222
- “capelão” frequency rank
- #1,768
- “capitão” frequency rank
- 26990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | capelão | capitão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | padre encarregado de rezar missas em capelas e prestar assistência espiritual a regimentos militares, escolas, hospitais, etc | chefe militar |
Where the eye mixes capelão and capitão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. capelão and capitão follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses capelão with capitão
A purely visual mix-up. capelão (/kɐ.pɨ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/) and capitão (/kɐ.pi.ˈtɐ̃w̃/) 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 26990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
capelão is recorded at frequency rank #25,222, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.pɨ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. capitão is at rank #1,768, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.pi.ˈtɐ̃w̃/.
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 26990, this pair ranks #42,056 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of capelão vs capitão
Shared letters: acopã. Private to "capelão": el. Private to "capitão": it.
"capelão" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "capitão" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "capelão" and "capitão" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "capelão" vs "capitão" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "capelão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "capitão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,056 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "capelão" and "capitão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "capelão vs capeta". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #42,056 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.