Which to use
“caroço” and “cerco” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,999
- “caroço” frequency rank
- #6,512
- “cerco” frequency rank
- 33511
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caroço | cerco |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | semente de um fruto | ato de cercar |
Where the eye mixes caroço and cerco
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. caroço runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against cerco's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between caroço and cerco
A purely visual mix-up. caroço (/kɐ.'ɾo.su/) and cerco (/ˈseɾ.ku/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caroço is recorded at frequency rank #26,999, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.'ɾo.su/. cerco is at rank #6,512, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈseɾ.ku/.
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 33511, this pair ranks #33,991 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caroço vs cerco
Shared letters: cor. Private to "caroço": aç. Private to "cerco": e.
"caroço" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "cerco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cerco ← ccerco · cecro · cercco · ceroc · cerrco · creco · ecrco
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caroço" for "cerco" ever safe?
Which is more common, "caroço" or "cerco"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "caroço" and "cerco" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "caroço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cerco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #33,991 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caroço" and "cerco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caraca vs caroço". 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 #33,991 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.