lemevslequeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,478
“leme” frequency rank
#14,885
“leque” frequency rank
27363
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leme leque
Definition superfície plana na parte traseira de um barco ou de um avião e que serve para os dirigir ventarola que se abre e se fecha pela sobreposição das suas varetas

Letter map: leme vs leque

Shared letters muted; letters that set leme and leque apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
leme
5 ch
leque

Pair insight - leme / leque

leme and leque are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leme is recorded at frequency rank #12,478, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛ.mɨ/. leque is at rank #14,885, tagged as anoun.

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 27363, this pair ranks #41,615 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leme vs leque

Shared letters: el. Private to "leme": m. Private to "leque": qu.

"leme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "leque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lemeelme · leem · lemme · lleme · lmee
  • lequeelque · leqeu · leqque · leuqe · lleque · lqeue

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "leme" and "leque" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "leme" or "leque"?
"leme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,478 in our Portuguese list, against #14,885 for "leque". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "leme" vs "leque" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #41,615 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leme" and "leque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leben vs leme". 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 #41,615 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