deitarvsdeterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,183
“deitar” frequency rank
#5,519
“deter” frequency rank
10702
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deitar deter
Definition colocar na cama proceder à detenção; prender; reter à força

Letter map: deitar vs deter

Shared letters muted; letters that set deitar and deter apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
deitar
5 ch
deter

Pair insight - deitar / deter

deitar and deter are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deitar is recorded at frequency rank #5,183, classified as averb, pronounced /dɐj.ˈtaɾ/. deter is at rank #5,519, tagged as averb.

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 10702, this pair ranks #62,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of deitar vs deter

Shared letters: dert. Private to "deitar": ai. Private to "deter": -.

"deitar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "deter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deitarddeitar · deiatr · deitarr · deitra · deittar · detiar · dietar
  • deterddeter · deetr · deterr · detre · detter · dteer · edter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deitar" and "deter" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "deitar" vs "deter" - which ranks higher?
"deitar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,183 in our Portuguese list, against #5,519 for "deter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "deitar" and "deter". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "deitar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "deter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deitar" and "deter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deitar vs desatar". 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 #62,323 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