ferrãovsferroWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,372
“ferrão” frequency rank
#2,093
“ferro” frequency rank
33465
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ferrão ferro
Definition órgão retrátil dos insetos elemento químico de símbolo Fe, possui o número atômico 26 e massa atômica relativa 55,845 u; é o quarto elemento mais abundante na crosta terrestre; é um metal duro e muito reativo, formando ligas com os mais diversos elementos

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ferrão and ferro apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
ferrão
5 ch
ferro

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

ferrão and ferro 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 33465, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ferrão is recorded at frequency rank #31,372, classified as anoun, pronounced /fɨ.ˈRɐ̃w̃/. ferro is at rank #2,093, tagged as anoun.

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 33465, this pair ranks #34,056 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ferrão vs ferro

Shared letters: efor. Private to "ferrão": ã. Private to "ferro": -.

"ferrão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "ferro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ferroefrro · fero · feror · fferro · frero

Frequency comparison

ferrão#31,372
ferro#2,093

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ferrão" and "ferro" 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.
Which is more common, "ferrão" or "ferro"?
"ferro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,093 in our Portuguese list, against #31,372 for "ferrão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ferrão vs ferro

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ferrão” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list