ceovscésioWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,861
“ceo” frequency rank
#41,427
“césio” frequency rank
50288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ceo césio
Definition nevoeiro; neblina elemento químico de símbolo Cs, possui o número atômico 55 e massa atômica relativa 132,905 u; é um metal alcalino, de coloração ouro prateado; é encontrado em minerais de potássio, tais como micas, berílio, feldspatos e a polucita (alumínio-silicato de césio); o césio metálico é utilizado na fabricação de células fotoelétricas e detectores de infravermelho

Where the eye mixes ceo and césio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ceo runs 3 letters (CVV) against césio's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
ceo
5 ch
césio

Visual trap between ceo and césio

A purely visual mix-up. ceo (/coː/) and césio (/ˈsɛzju/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ceo is recorded at frequency rank #8,861, classified as anoun, pronounced /coː/. césio is at rank #41,427, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛzju/.

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 50288, this pair ranks #14,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ceo vs césio

Shared letters: co. Private to "ceo": e. Private to "césio": isé.

"ceo" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "césio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ceo" for "césio" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/coː/ versus /ˈsɛzju/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ceo" or "césio"?
"ceo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,861 in our Portuguese list, against #41,427 for "césio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "ceo" and "césio" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ceo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "césio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ceo" and "césio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "césio vs cisto". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #14,688 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