cevadavsciladaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#28,498
“cevada” frequency rank
#16,704
“cilada” frequency rank
45202
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cevada cilada
Definition planta (Hordeum vulgare) da família das gramíneas, cultivada como cereal emboscada feita para ataque ou captura, de modo a atrair a pessoa até ela

Where the eye mixes cevada and cilada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
cevada
6 ch
cilada

Visual trap between cevada and cilada

A purely visual mix-up. cevada (/sɨ.ˈva.dɐ/) and cilada (/siˈla.dɐ/) 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 45202, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cevada is recorded at frequency rank #28,498, classified as anoun, pronounced /sɨ.ˈva.dɐ/. cilada is at rank #16,704, tagged as anoun, pronounced /siˈla.dɐ/.

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 45202, this pair ranks #20,194 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cevada vs cilada

Shared letters: acd. Private to "cevada": ev. Private to "cilada": il.

"cevada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "cilada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cevadaccevada · ceavda · cevaad · cevadda · cevdaa · cevvada · cveada · ecvada
  • ciladaccilada · cialda · cilaad · ciladda · cildaa · cillada · cliada · iclada

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cevada" for "cilada" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/sɨ.ˈva.dɐ/ versus /siˈla.dɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cevada" or "cilada" show up more?
"cilada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,704 in our Portuguese list, against #28,498 for "cevada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cevada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cilada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #20,194 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cevada" and "cilada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cerda vs cevada". 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 #20,194 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