Which to use
“limão” and “loção” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,316
- “limão” frequency rank
- #32,245
- “loção” frequency rank
- 38561
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | limão | loção |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fruto do limoeiro, de forma ovoide, cítrico de cor verde-amarela e de sabor ácido | líquido perfumado e levemente alcoolizado para o tratamento da pele e dos cabelos |
Where the eye mixes limão and loção
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. limão and loção follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between limão and loção
A purely visual mix-up. limão (/li.ˈmɐ̃w̃/) and loção (/lu.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 38561, 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/. loção is at rank #32,245, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lu.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 38561, this pair ranks #27,862 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of limão vs loção
Shared letters: loã. Private to "limão": im. Private to "loção": ç.
"limão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "loção" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "limão" for "loção" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "limão" or "loção" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "limão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loção" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,862 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "limão" and "loção" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loção vs loch". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #27,862 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.