Which to use
“mamã” and “meia” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,037
- “mamã” frequency rank
- #1,054
- “meia” frequency rank
- 30091
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mamã | meia |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mãe | peça de vestuário de tecido de malha que se calça sobre a pele até meio da perna |
Where the eye mixes mamã and meia
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mamã (CVCV) and meia (CVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: mamã vs meia
A purely visual mix-up. mamã (/mɜˈmɜ̃/) and meia (/ˈmɐj.ɐ/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30091, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mamã is recorded at frequency rank #29,037, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɜˈmɜ̃/. meia is at rank #1,054, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐj.ɐ/.
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 30091, this pair ranks #38,366 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mamã vs meia
Shared letters: am. Private to "mamã": ã. Private to "meia": ei.
"mamã" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "meia" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- meia ← emia · meai · miea · mmeia
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mamã" and "meia" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "mamã" or "meia"?
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 "mamã" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "meia" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #38,366 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mamã" and "meia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mamã". 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 #38,366 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.