cervovscésioWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,629
“cervo” frequency rank
#41,427
“césio” frequency rank
71056
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cervo césio
Definition mamífero ruminante da família dos cervídeos, com chifres ramificados, que vive em rebanhos 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 cervo and césio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. cervo (CVCCV) and césio (CVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
cervo
5 ch
césio

Visual trap between cervo and césio

A purely visual mix-up. cervo (/ˈsɛɾ.vu/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cervo is recorded at frequency rank #29,629, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛɾ.vu/. 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 71056, this pair ranks #3,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cervo vs césio

Shared letters: co. Private to "cervo": erv. Private to "césio": isé.

"cervo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "césio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cervo ← ccervo · cerov · cerrvo · cervvo · cevro · crevo · ecrvo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cervo" for "césio" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsɛɾ.vu/ versus /ˈsɛzju/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cervo" vs "césio" - which ranks higher?
"cervo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,629 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.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cervo" 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 #3,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cervo" and "césio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "césio vs cisto". 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 #3,461 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