IranvsIrãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,248
“Iran” frequency rank
#1,785
“Irão” frequency rank
30033
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Iran Irão
Definition Irão/Irã país do Oriente Médio, com nome oficial de República Islâmica do Irão, tem fronteiras com a Armênia, Azerbaijão, Turquemenistão, Afeganistão, Paquistão, Iraque e Turquia, é banhado ao norte pelo mar Cáspio, ao sul pelo golfo de Omã e ao sudoeste pelo golfo Pérsico, sua capital é Teerão

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
Iran
4 ch
Irão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Iran and Irão 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30033, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Iran is recorded at frequency rank #28,248, classified as anoun, pronounced /i.ˈʀaːn/. Irão is at rank #1,785, 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 30033, this pair ranks #38,434 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Iran vs Irão

Shared letters: ir. Private to "Iran": an. Private to "Irão": .

"Iran" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "Irão" · 4 letters · shape VCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Iraniarn · irann · irna · irran · rian

Frequency comparison

Iran#28,248
Irão#1,785

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Iran" and "Irão" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "Iran" or "Irão"?
"Irão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,785 in our Portuguese list, against #28,248 for "Iran". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Iran vs Irão

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 “Iran” 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