Which to use
“depilação” and “derivação” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,115
- “depilação” frequency rank
- #35,093
- “derivação” frequency rank
- 54208
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | depilação | derivação |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ação ou efeito de depilar | o ato de derivar |
Where the eye mixes depilação and derivação
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. depilação and derivação follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses depilação with derivação
A purely visual mix-up. depilação (/dɨ.pi.lɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and derivação (/dɨ.ɾi.vɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 54208, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
depilação is recorded at frequency rank #19,115, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.pi.lɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. derivação is at rank #35,093, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.ɾi.vɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 54208, this pair ranks #11,443 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of depilação vs derivação
Shared letters: adeioãç. Private to "depilação": lp. Private to "derivação": rv.
"depilação" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVV · "derivação" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "depilação" and "derivação" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "depilação" or "derivação" show up more?
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 "depilação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derivação" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,443 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "depilação" and "derivação" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "depilação vs depuração". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #11,443 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.