licitaçãovslimitaçãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,884
“licitação” frequency rank
#13,547
“limitação” frequency rank
23431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature licitação limitação
Definition ato ou efeito de licitar ato ou efeito de limitar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set licitação and limitação apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
licitação
9 ch
limitação

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. licitação (/li.si.tɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and limitação (/li.mi.tɐ.ˈsãw/) 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 a single letter - c in “licitação” becomes m in “limitação”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

licitação is recorded at frequency rank #9,884, classified as anoun, pronounced /li.si.tɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. limitação is at rank #13,547, tagged as anoun, pronounced /li.mi.tɐ.ˈsãw/.

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 23431, this pair ranks #46,403 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of licitação vs limitação

Shared letters: ailotãç. Private to "licitação": c. Private to "limitação": m.

"licitação" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVV  ·  "limitação" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVV

Frequency comparison

licitação#9,884
limitação#13,547

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "licitação" and "limitação" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/li.si.tɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /li.mi.tɐ.ˈsãw/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "licitação" or "limitação"?
"licitação" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,884 in our Portuguese list, against #13,547 for "limitação". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering licitação vs limitação

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “licitação” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list