Which to use
“maia” and “malva” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,341
- “maia” frequency rank
- #44,474
- “malva” frequency rank
- 47815
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maia | malva |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | relativo a maia ou aos maias | violeta |
Where the eye mixes maia and malva
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. maia runs 4 letters (CVVV) against malva's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: maia vs malva
A purely visual mix-up. maia (/ˈmaj.ɐ/) and malva (/ˈmaɫ.vɐ/) 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 47815, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maia is recorded at frequency rank #3,341, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmaj.ɐ/. malva is at rank #44,474, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmaɫ.vɐ/.
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 47815, this pair ranks #17,407 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maia vs malva
Shared letters: am. Private to "maia": i. Private to "malva": lv.
"maia" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "malva" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maia" for "malva" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "maia" or "malva" show up more?
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 "maia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "malva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,407 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maia" and "malva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs malva". 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 #17,407 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.