laiavslarvaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#37,883
“laia” frequency rank
#35,214
“larva” frequency rank
73097
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laia larva
Definition lã embrião que se torna livre abandonando normalmente os invólucros ovulares ou o organismo progenitor

Where the eye mixes laia and larva

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. laia runs 4 letters (CVVV) against larva's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
laia
5 ch
larva

Visual trap between laia and larva

A purely visual mix-up. laia (/ˈlaj.ɐ/) and larva (/'lar.va/) 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 73097, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laia is recorded at frequency rank #37,883, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlaj.ɐ/. larva is at rank #35,214, tagged as anoun, pronounced /'lar.va/.

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 73097, this pair ranks #2,869 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laia vs larva

Shared letters: al. Private to "laia": i. Private to "larva": rv.

"laia" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "larva" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • laia ← alia · laai · liaa · llaia
  • larva ← alrva · larav · larrva · larvva · llarva · lrava

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "laia" and "larva" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlaj.ɐ/ versus /'lar.va/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "laia" or "larva"?
"larva" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,214 in our Portuguese list, against #37,883 for "laia". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "laia" and "larva" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "laia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "larva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,869 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "laia" and "larva" 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 #2,869 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