corevscórneaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,649
“core” frequency rank
#32,130
“córnea” frequency rank
41779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature core córnea
Definition núcleo de processamento membrana exterior do olho humano, situada anteriormente à pupila

Where the eye mixes core and córnea

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

4 ch
core
6 ch
córnea

Look-alike desk: core vs córnea

A purely visual mix-up. core (ˈkɔ.ɾɪ/) and córnea (/ˈkɔɾ.njɐ/) 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 41779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

core is recorded at frequency rank #9,649, classified as anoun, pronounced ˈkɔ.ɾɪ/. córnea is at rank #32,130, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔɾ.njɐ/.

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 41779, this pair ranks #24,091 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of core vs córnea

Shared letters: cer. Private to "core": o. Private to "córnea": anó.

"core" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "córnea" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coreccore · coer · corre · croe · ocre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "core" for "córnea" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (ˈkɔ.ɾɪ/ versus /ˈkɔɾ.njɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "core" or "córnea" show up more?
"core" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,649 in our Portuguese list, against #32,130 for "córnea". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "core" and "córnea" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "core" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "córnea" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,091 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "core" and "córnea" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conca vs córnea". 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 #24,091 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