MaorivsmãosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Maori” and “mãos” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,001
“Maori” frequency rank
#761
“mãos” frequency rank
37762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Maori mãos
Definition um dos povos indígenas da Nova Zelândia plural de mão

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Maori and mãos apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Maori
4 ch
mãos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Maori (/maˈoːri/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and mãos (/ˈmɐ̃w̃ʃ/) 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 37762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Maori is recorded at frequency rank #37,001, classified as anoun, pronounced /maˈoːri/ ouvir^(fonte ?). mãos is at rank #761, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɐ̃w̃ʃ/.

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 37762, this pair ranks #28,812 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Maori vs mãos

Shared letters: mo. Private to "Maori": air. Private to "mãos": .

"Maori" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "mãos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Maoriamori · maorri · maroi · mmaori · moari

Frequency comparison

Maori#37,001
mãos#761

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Maori" and "mãos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/maˈoːri/ ouvir^(fonte ?) versus /ˈmɐ̃w̃ʃ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Maori" or "mãos"?
"mãos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #761 in our Portuguese list, against #37,001 for "Maori". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Maori vs mãos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Maori” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list