copavscoxaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#596
“copa” frequency rank
#12,410
“coxa” frequency rank
13006
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature copa coxa
Definition vaso fundo, de dimensões e formas variáveis, para bebidas; taça parte da perna, desde as virilhas até o joelho

Where the eye mixes copa and coxa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
copa
4 ch
coxa

Why the eye confuses copa with coxa

A purely visual mix-up. copa (/ˈkɔ.pɐ/) and coxa (/ˈko.ʃɐ/) 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 a single letter - p in “copa” becomes x in “coxa”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

copa is recorded at frequency rank #596, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔ.pɐ/. coxa is at rank #12,410, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈko.ʃɐ/.

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 13006, this pair ranks #59,436 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of copa vs coxa

Shared letters: aco. Private to "copa": p. Private to "coxa": x.

"copa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "coxa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • copaccopa · coap · coppa · cpoa · ocpa
  • coxaccoxa · coax · coxxa · cxoa · ocxa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "copa" and "coxa" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkɔ.pɐ/ versus /ˈko.ʃɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "copa" or "coxa"?
"copa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #596 in our Portuguese list, against #12,410 for "coxa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "copa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coxa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,436 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "copa" and "coxa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conca vs coxa". 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 #59,436 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