íconevsironWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,255
“ícone” frequency rank
#13,963
“iron” frequency rank
20218
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ícone iron
Definition símbolo ferro, elemento químico de número atômico 26 e símbolo Fe

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ícone and iron apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ícone
4 ch
iron

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ícone (/ˈi.ko.ni/) and iron (/ˈaɪərn/, ouvir^(fonte ?)) 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 20218, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ícone is recorded at frequency rank #6,255, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈi.ko.ni/. iron is at rank #13,963, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪərn/, ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 20218, this pair ranks #50,350 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ícone vs iron

Shared letters: no. Private to "ícone": ceí. Private to "iron": ir.

"ícone" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "iron" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ironiorn · irno · ironn · irron · rion

Frequency comparison

ícone#6,255
iron#13,963

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ícone" and "iron" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈi.ko.ni/ versus /ˈaɪərn/, ouvir^(fonte ?)) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ícone" or "iron"?
"ícone" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,255 in our Portuguese list, against #13,963 for "iron". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ícone vs iron

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 “ícone” 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