Which to use
“laço” and “laia” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,518
- “laço” frequency rank
- #37,883
- “laia” frequency rank
- 47401
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laço | laia |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nó que se desata facilmente | lã |
Where the eye mixes laço and laia
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. laço (CVCV) and laia (CVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: laço vs laia
A purely visual mix-up. laço (/ˈla.su/) and laia (/ˈlaj.ɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laço is recorded at frequency rank #9,518, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.su/. laia is at rank #37,883, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlaj.ɐ/.
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 47401, this pair ranks #17,855 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of laço vs laia
Shared letters: al. Private to "laço": oç. Private to "laia": i.
"laço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "laia" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- laia ← alia · laai · liaa · llaia
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laço" for "laia" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "laço" or "laia" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "laço" and "laia" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "laço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laia" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,855 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laço" and "laia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laia vs liana". 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 #17,855 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.