decisãovsdivisãoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#669
“decisão” frequency rank
#2,045
“divisão” frequency rank
2714
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decisão divisão
Definition ação ou resultado de decidir ato ou efeito de dividir

Where the eye mixes decisão and divisão

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. decisão and divisão follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
decisão
7 ch
divisão

Why the eye confuses decisão with divisão

A purely visual mix-up. decisão (/dɨ.si.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) and divisão (/dʒi.vi.ˈzãw/) 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 2714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decisão is recorded at frequency rank #669, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.si.ˈzɐ̃w̃/. divisão is at rank #2,045, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dʒi.vi.ˈzãw/.

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 2714, this pair ranks #72,572 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of decisão vs divisão

Shared letters: diosã. Private to "decisão": ce. Private to "divisão": v.

"decisão" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "divisão" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "decisão" and "divisão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/dɨ.si.ˈzɐ̃w̃/ versus /dʒi.vi.ˈzãw/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "decisão" or "divisão"?
"decisão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #669 in our Portuguese list, against #2,045 for "divisão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decisão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "divisão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,572 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decisão" and "divisão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decisão vs decision". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #72,572 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