Which to use
“maço” and “major” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,742
- “maço” frequency rank
- #3,155
- “major” frequency rank
- 28897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maço | major |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | instrumento de madeira encabado para uso de carpinteiros, escultores, etc. | patente das forças armadas |
Where the eye mixes maço and major
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses maço with major
A purely visual mix-up. maço (/ˈma.su/) and major (/ma.ˈʒɔɹ/) 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 28897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maço is recorded at frequency rank #25,742, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈma.su/. major is at rank #3,155, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ma.ˈʒɔɹ/.
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 28897, this pair ranks #39,864 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maço vs major
Shared letters: amo. Private to "maço": ç. Private to "major": jr.
"maço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "major" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- major ← amjor · majjor · majorr · majro · maojr · mjaor · mmajor
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maço" for "major" ever safe?
Frequency check: "maço" vs "major" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "maço" and "major" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "maço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "major" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,864 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maço" and "major" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs maço". 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 #39,864 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.