Which to use
“lesma” and “leva” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,714
- “lesma” frequency rank
- #870
- “leva” frequency rank
- 40584
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lesma | leva |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nome vulgar dos moluscos pulmonados da família dos Limacídeos (mais particularmente os do género Limax Cuvier) | ato de levantar a âncora |
Where the eye mixes lesma and leva
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lesma and leva
A purely visual mix-up. lesma (/ˈleʒ.mɐ/) and leva (/ˈlɛ.vɐ/) 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 40584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lesma is recorded at frequency rank #39,714, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleʒ.mɐ/. leva is at rank #870, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛ.vɐ/.
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 40584, this pair ranks #25,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lesma vs leva
Shared letters: ael. Private to "lesma": ms. Private to "leva": v.
"lesma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "leva" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lesma" for "leva" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lesma" vs "leva" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lesma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lesma" and "leva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lesma vs lhama". 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 #25,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.