Which to use
“leilão” and “limão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,655
- “leilão” frequency rank
- #6,316
- “limão” frequency rank
- 13971
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leilão | limão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | venda em hasta pública a quem oferecer maior preço | fruto do limoeiro, de forma ovoide, cítrico de cor verde-amarela e de sabor ácido |
Where the eye mixes leilão and limão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. leilão runs 6 letters (CVVCVV) against limão's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: leilão vs limão
A purely visual mix-up. leilão (/lɐj.ˈlɐ̃w̃/) and limão (/li.ˈmɐ̃w̃/) 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 13971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leilão is recorded at frequency rank #7,655, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɐj.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. limão is at rank #6,316, tagged as anoun, pronounced /li.ˈmɐ̃w̃/.
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 13971, this pair ranks #58,234 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leilão vs limão
Shared letters: iloã. Private to "leilão": e. Private to "limão": m.
"leilão" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV · "limão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leilão" and "limão" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "leilão" or "limão" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "leilão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "limão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,234 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leilão" and "limão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "limão vs lime". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #58,234 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.