décimovsdízimoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,044
“décimo” frequency rank
#35,978
“dízimo” frequency rank
45022
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décimo dízimo
Definition refere-se àquele que ocupa a posição dez em uma série; o que vem depois do nono décima parte

Where the eye mixes décimo and dízimo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. décimo and dízimo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
décimo
6 ch
dízimo

Visual trap between décimo and dízimo

A purely visual mix-up. décimo (/ˈdɛ.si.mu/) and dízimo (/ˈdi.zi.mu/) 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 45022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décimo is recorded at frequency rank #9,044, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdɛ.si.mu/. dízimo is at rank #35,978, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈdi.zi.mu/.

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 45022, this pair ranks #20,407 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décimo vs dízimo

Shared letters: dimo. Private to "décimo": cé. Private to "dízimo": zí.

"décimo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "dízimo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "décimo" and "dízimo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈdɛ.si.mu/ versus /ˈdi.zi.mu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "décimo" vs "dízimo" - which ranks higher?
"décimo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,044 in our Portuguese list, against #35,978 for "dízimo". 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 "décimo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dízimo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #20,407 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décimo" and "dízimo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dínamo vs dízimo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #20,407 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