icivsírisConfusable pair

Quick tell: ici is a adverb, íris is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ici” is an adverb and “íris” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,880
“ici” frequency rank
#7,993
“íris” frequency rank
53873
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ici íris
Definition aqui meteoro luminoso produzido na atmosfera em forma de arco pela decomposição dos raios solares

Where the eye mixes ici and íris

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ici
4 ch
íris

Look-alike desk: ici vs íris

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ici is \i.si\ while íris is /ˈi.ɾiʃ/. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ici is recorded at frequency rank #45,880, classified as anadv, pronounced \i.si\. íris is at rank #7,993, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈi.ɾiʃ/.

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 53873, this pair ranks #11,716 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ici vs íris

Shared letters: i. Private to "ici": c. Private to "íris": rsí.

"ici" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "íris" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ici" and "íris" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ici" is an adverb and "íris" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ici" vs "íris" - which ranks higher?
"íris" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,993 in our Portuguese list, against #45,880 for "ici". 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 "ici" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "íris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,716 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ici" and "íris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ici vs ino". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #11,716 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