Which to use
“laca” and “lama” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,502
- “laca” frequency rank
- #5,317
- “lama” frequency rank
- 53819
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laca | lama |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | resina ou goma resinosa obtida de certas árvores no Oriente | mistura heterogênea de terra e água |
Where the eye mixes laca and lama
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. laca and lama follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses laca with lama
A purely visual mix-up. laca (/ˈla.kɐ/) and lama (/ˈlɐ.mɐ/) 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 a single letter - c in “laca” becomes m in “lama”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53819, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laca is recorded at frequency rank #48,502, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.kɐ/. lama is at rank #5,317, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɐ.mɐ/.
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 53819, this pair ranks #11,752 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of laca vs lama
Shared letters: al. Private to "laca": c. Private to "lama": m.
"laca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lama" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "laca" and "lama" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "laca" vs "lama" - which ranks higher?
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 "laca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lama" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,752 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laca" and "lama" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs loch". 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 #11,752 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.