cordelvscoreTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,668
“cordel” frequency rank
#9,649
“core” frequency rank
29317
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cordel core
Definition corda bastante fina e flexível; barbante, cordão, guita núcleo de processamento

Where the eye mixes cordel and core

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cordel runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against core's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
cordel
4 ch
core

Visual trap between cordel and core

A purely visual mix-up. cordel (/kuɾ.ˈdɛɫ/) and core (ˈkɔ.ɾɪ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cordel is recorded at frequency rank #19,668, classified as anoun, pronounced /kuɾ.ˈdɛɫ/. core is at rank #9,649, tagged as anoun, pronounced ˈkɔ.ɾɪ/.

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 29317, this pair ranks #39,363 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cordel vs core

Shared letters: ceor. Private to "cordel": dl. Private to "core": -.

"cordel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "core" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cordel ← ccordel · codrel · corddel · cordell · cordle · coredl · corrdel · crodel
  • core ← ccore · coer · corre · croe · ocre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cordel" and "core" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kuɾ.ˈdɛɫ/ versus ˈkɔ.ɾɪ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cordel" or "core"?
"core" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,649 in our Portuguese list, against #19,668 for "cordel". 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 "cordel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "core" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #39,363 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cordel" and "core" 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 #39,363 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