Which to use
“laca” and “lança” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,502
- “laca” frequency rank
- #2,380
- “lança” frequency rank
- 50882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laca | lança |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | resina ou goma resinosa obtida de certas árvores no Oriente | uma arma longa para ser arremessada, que consiste de uma haste de madeira à qual é ligada uma ponta de metal |
Where the eye mixes laca and lança
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. laca runs 4 letters (CVCV) against lança's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between laca and lança
A purely visual mix-up. laca (/ˈla.kɐ/) and lança (/ˈlɐ̃.sɐ/) 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 50882, 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/. lança is at rank #2,380, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɐ̃.sɐ/.
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 50882, this pair ranks #14,074 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of laca vs lança
Shared letters: al. Private to "laca": c. Private to "lança": nç.
"laca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lança" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- laca ← alca · laac · lacca · lcaa · llaca
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "laca" and "lança" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "laca" or "lança"?
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 "lança" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,074 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laca" and "lança" 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 #14,074 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.