Which to use
“maçã” and “machão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,309
- “maçã” frequency rank
- #37,901
- “machão” frequency rank
- 45210
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maçã | machão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o fruto comestível da macieira | mulher de aspecto e de modos varonis |
Where the eye mixes maçã and machão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. maçã runs 4 letters (CVCV) against machão's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses maçã with machão
A purely visual mix-up. maçã (/mɐ.ˈsɐ̃/) and machão (/mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45210, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maçã is recorded at frequency rank #7,309, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈsɐ̃/. machão is at rank #37,901, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈʃɐ̃w̃/.
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 45210, this pair ranks #20,187 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maçã vs machão
Shared letters: amã. Private to "maçã": ç. Private to "machão": cho.
"maçã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "machão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "maçã" and "machão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "maçã" vs "machão" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "maçã" and "machão" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "maçã" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "machão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,187 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maçã" and "machão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "machão vs malho". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #20,187 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.