Which to use
“madrinha” is a noun and “marinho” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,715
- “madrinha” frequency rank
- #6,087
- “marinho” frequency rank
- 18802
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | madrinha | marinho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mulher que apresenta alguém (geralmente criança) para ser batizado ou crismado com o compromisso implícito de, na ausência dos pais, provê-lo de tudo quanto lhe seja necessário; dinda, dindinha | relativo ao mar |
Where the eye mixes madrinha and marinho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. madrinha runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against marinho's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses madrinha with marinho
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: madrinha is /mɐ.ˈdɾi.ɲɐ/ while marinho is /mɐ.ˈɾi.ɲu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
madrinha is recorded at frequency rank #12,715, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈdɾi.ɲɐ/. marinho is at rank #6,087, tagged as anadj, pronounced /mɐ.ˈɾi.ɲu/.
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 18802, this pair ranks #52,100 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of madrinha vs marinho
Shared letters: ahimnr. Private to "madrinha": d. Private to "marinho": o.
"madrinha" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "marinho" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "madrinha" for "marinho" ever safe?
Which is more common, "madrinha" or "marinho"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "madrinha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "marinho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,100 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "madrinha" and "marinho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "marinho vs Martino". 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 #52,100 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.