Which to use
“censo” and “cerco” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,830
- “censo” frequency rank
- #6,512
- “cerco” frequency rank
- 12342
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | censo | cerco |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pesquisa que visa a coleta de dados estatísticos de um determinado lugar | ato de cercar |
Where the eye mixes censo and cerco
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between censo and cerco
A purely visual mix-up. censo (/ˈsẽ.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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
censo is recorded at frequency rank #5,830, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsẽ.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 12342, this pair ranks #60,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of censo vs cerco
Shared letters: ceo. Private to "censo": ns. Private to "cerco": r.
"censo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cerco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "censo" for "cerco" ever safe?
Which is more common, "censo" or "cerco"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "censo" and "cerco" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "censo" 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 #60,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "censo" and "cerco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cerco 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 #60,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.