laçovsLucWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,518
“laço” frequency rank
#15,850
“Luc” frequency rank
25368
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laço Luc
Definition nó que se desata facilmente Lucas

Where the eye mixes laço and Luc

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. laço runs 4 letters (CVCV) against Luc's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
laço
3 ch
Luc

Look-alike desk: laço vs Luc

A purely visual mix-up. laço (/ˈla.su/) and Luc (/lyk/.) 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 25368, 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/. Luc is at rank #15,850, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lyk/..

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 25368, this pair ranks #43,973 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of laço vs Luc

Shared letters: l. Private to "laço": aoç. Private to "Luc": cu.

"laço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Luc" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laço" and "Luc" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈla.su/ versus /lyk/.) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "laço" vs "Luc" - which ranks higher?
"laço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,518 in our Portuguese list, against #15,850 for "Luc". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "laço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Luc" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,973 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "laço" and "Luc" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loch vs Luc". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #43,973 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list