lamavslarvaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,317
“lama” frequency rank
#35,214
“larva” frequency rank
40531
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lama larva
Definition mistura heterogênea de terra e água embrião que se torna livre abandonando normalmente os invólucros ovulares ou o organismo progenitor

Where the eye mixes lama and larva

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

4 ch
lama
5 ch
larva

Visual trap between lama and larva

A purely visual mix-up. lama (/ˈlɐ.mɐ/) 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 40531, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lama is recorded at frequency rank #5,317, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɐ.mɐ/. 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 40531, this pair ranks #25,556 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lama vs larva

Shared letters: al. Private to "lama": m. Private to "larva": rv.

"lama" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "larva" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lama ← laam · lamma · llama · lmaa
  • larva ← alrva · larav · larrva · larvva · llarva · lrava

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lama" and "larva" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlɐ.mɐ/ versus /'lar.va/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lama" vs "larva" - which ranks higher?
"lama" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,317 in our Portuguese list, against #35,214 for "larva". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lama" 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 #25,556 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lama" and "larva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs larva". 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 #25,556 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