Which to use
“cordão” and “cordel” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,038
- “cordão” frequency rank
- #19,668
- “cordel” frequency rank
- 30706
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cordão | cordel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | corda fina e flexível | corda bastante fina e flexível; barbante, cordão, guita |
Where the eye mixes cordão and cordel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cordão (CVCCVV) and cordel (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses cordão with cordel
A purely visual mix-up. cordão (/kuɾ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/) and cordel (/kuɾ.ˈdɛɫ/) 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 30706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cordão is recorded at frequency rank #11,038, classified as anoun, pronounced /kuɾ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/. cordel is at rank #19,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kuɾ.ˈdɛɫ/.
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 30706, this pair ranks #37,573 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cordão vs cordel
Shared letters: cdor. Private to "cordão": ã. Private to "cordel": el.
"cordão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "cordel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cordel ← ccordel · codrel · corddel · cordell · cordle · coredl · corrdel · crodel
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cordão" and "cordel" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "cordão" vs "cordel" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cordão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cordel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,573 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cordão" and "cordel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "codex vs cordel". 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 #37,573 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.