limãovslivroWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,316
“limão” frequency rank
#378
“livro” frequency rank
6694
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature limão livro
Definition fruto do limoeiro, de forma ovoide, cítrico de cor verde-amarela e de sabor ácido objeto feito de várias folhas de papel, organizadas em ordem e contendo um texto

Where the eye mixes limão and livro

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. limão (CVCVV) and livro (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
limão
5 ch
livro

Visual trap between limão and livro

A purely visual mix-up. limão (/li.ˈmɐ̃w̃/) and livro (/ˈli.vɾu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6694, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

limão is recorded at frequency rank #6,316, classified as anoun, pronounced /li.ˈmɐ̃w̃/. livro is at rank #378, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈli.vɾu/.

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 6694, this pair ranks #67,676 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of limão vs livro

Shared letters: ilo. Private to "limão": mã. Private to "livro": rv.

"limão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "livro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • livro ← ilvro · lirvo · livor · livrro · livvro · llivro · lviro

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "limão" and "livro" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/li.ˈmɐ̃w̃/ versus /ˈli.vɾu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "limão" or "livro"?
"livro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #378 in our Portuguese list, against #6,316 for "limão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "limão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "livro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,676 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "limão" and "livro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "limão vs lime". 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 #67,676 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