contornarvscontornoConfusable pair

Quick tell: contornar is a verb, contorno is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“contornar” is a verb and “contorno” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,809
“contornar” frequency rank
#18,006
“contorno” frequency rank
32815
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contornar contorno
Definition fazer o contorno de linha que circunda um corpo,

Letter map: contornar vs contorno

Shared letters muted; letters that set contornar and contorno apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. contornar runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against contorno's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
contornar
8 ch
contorno

Role in the sentence - contornar and contorno

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: contornar is averb and contornoanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32815, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contornar is recorded at frequency rank #14,809, classified as averb. contorno is at rank #18,006, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kõ.ˈtoɾ.nu/.

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 32815, this pair ranks #34,875 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contornar vs contorno

Shared letters: cnort. Private to "contornar": a. Private to "contorno": -.

"contornar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "contorno" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contornar ← ccontornar · cnotornar · conntornar · conotrnar · contonrar · contoranr · contornarr · contornnar
  • contorno ← ccontorno · cnotorno · conntorno · conotrno · contonro · contornno · contoron · contorrno

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contornar" and "contorno" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "contornar" is a verb and "contorno" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "contornar" vs "contorno" - which ranks higher?
"contornar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,809 in our Portuguese list, against #18,006 for "contorno". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "contornar" and "contorno". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contornar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contorno" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #34,875 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contornar" and "contorno" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "confortar vs contornar". 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 #34,875 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