Which to use
“maré” and “mater” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,659
- “maré” frequency rank
- #31,868
- “mater” frequency rank
- 39527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maré | mater |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | movimento periódico de subida e descida das águas do mar | maternidade, estabelecimento público ou privado destinado a receber mulheres que estão a ponto de dar a luz |
Where the eye mixes maré and mater
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. maré runs 4 letters (CVCV) against mater's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses maré with mater
A purely visual mix-up. maré (/mɐ.ˈɾɛ/) and mater (/ma.tɛʁ/) 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 39527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maré is recorded at frequency rank #7,659, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐ.ˈɾɛ/. mater is at rank #31,868, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ma.tɛʁ/.
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 39527, this pair ranks #26,697 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maré vs mater
Shared letters: amr. Private to "maré": é. Private to "mater": et.
"maré" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mater ← amter · maetr · materr · mmater · mtaer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maré" and "mater" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "maré" vs "mater" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maré" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mater" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,697 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maré" and "mater" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mater vs matiz". 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 #26,697 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.