estátuavsestatutoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,944
“estátua” frequency rank
#3,835
“estatuto” frequency rank
9779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature estátua estatuto
Definition obra de arte desenvolvida no espaço (três dimensões) que representa um ser, normalmente uma mulher ou um homem regra que tem força de lei

Where the eye mixes estátua and estatuto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. estátua runs 7 letters (VCCVCVV) against estatuto's 8 (VCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
estátua
8 ch
estatuto

Why the eye confuses estátua with estatuto

A purely visual mix-up. estátua (/iʃ.ˈta.twɐ/) and estatuto (/iʃ.tɐ.ˈtu.tu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

estátua is recorded at frequency rank #5,944, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈta.twɐ/. estatuto is at rank #3,835, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.tɐ.ˈtu.tu/.

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 9779, this pair ranks #63,534 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of estátua vs estatuto

Shared letters: aestu. Private to "estátua": á. Private to "estatuto": o.

"estátua" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV  ·  "estatuto" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • estatuto ← esattuto · esstatuto · estattuo · estattuto · estatuot · estatutto · estautto · esttatuto

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "estátua" for "estatuto" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/iʃ.ˈta.twɐ/ versus /iʃ.tɐ.ˈtu.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "estátua" or "estatuto"?
"estatuto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,835 in our Portuguese list, against #5,944 for "estátua". 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 "estátua" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "estatuto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #63,534 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "estátua" and "estatuto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espátula vs estátua". 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 #63,534 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