ceiavscimaConfusable pair

Which to use

“ceia” and “cima” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,796
“ceia” frequency rank
#580
“cima” frequency rank
15376
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ceia cima
Definition a última refeição do dia a parte superior de alguma coisa; alto, cume, cimeira, topo

Where the eye mixes ceia and cima

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
ceia
4 ch
cima

Visual trap between ceia and cima

A purely visual mix-up. ceia (/ˈsɐj.ɐ/) and cima (/ˈsi.mɐ/) 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 15376, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ceia is recorded at frequency rank #14,796, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɐj.ɐ/. cima is at rank #580, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsi.mɐ/.

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 15376, this pair ranks #56,450 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ceia vs cima

Shared letters: aci. Private to "ceia": e. Private to "cima": m.

"ceia" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "cima" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ceiacceia · ceai · ciea · ecia
  • cimaccima · ciam · cimma · cmia · icma

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ceia" and "cima" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsɐj.ɐ/ versus /ˈsi.mɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ceia" or "cima"?
"cima" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #580 in our Portuguese list, against #14,796 for "ceia". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "ceia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cima" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,450 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ceia" and "cima" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ceia vs cerda". 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 #56,450 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