devivsDVDConfusable pair

Quick tell: devi is a verb, DVD is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“devi” is a verb and “DVD” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,301
“devi” frequency rank
#3,470
“DVD” frequency rank
50771
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature devi DVD
Definition dever, ter obrigação de, ter que tipo de disco ótico para armazenar sons, imagens e/ou informações digitais, com capacidade entre 4,7 e 17 GB

Where the eye mixes devi and DVD

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
devi
3 ch
DVD

Why the eye confuses devi with DVD

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: devi is /ˈde.vi/ while DVD is /de.ve.ˈde/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

devi is recorded at frequency rank #47,301, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈde.vi/. DVD is at rank #3,470, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced /de.ve.ˈde/.

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 50771, this pair ranks #14,188 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of devi vs DVD

Shared letters: dv. Private to "devi": ei. Private to "DVD": -.

"devi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "DVD" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deviddevi · deiv · devvi · dvei · edvi

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "devi" for "DVD" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "devi" is a verb and "DVD" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "devi" vs "DVD" - which ranks higher?
"DVD" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,470 in our Portuguese list, against #47,301 for "devi". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "devi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "DVD" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,188 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "devi" and "DVD" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devi vs device". 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 #14,188 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