Which to use
“marfim” and “margem” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,530
- “marfim” frequency rank
- #3,495
- “margem” frequency rank
- 13025
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | marfim | margem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | substância que entra na composição dos dentes dos mamíferos; dentina | a porção de terreno que ladeia um rio ou lagoa |
Where the eye mixes marfim and margem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. marfim and margem follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between marfim and margem
A purely visual mix-up. marfim (/mɐɾ.ˈfĩ/) and margem (/ˈmaɹ.ʒẽj/) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13025, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
marfim is recorded at frequency rank #9,530, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɐɾ.ˈfĩ/. margem is at rank #3,495, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaɹ.ʒẽj/.
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 13025, this pair ranks #59,410 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of marfim vs margem
Shared letters: amr. Private to "marfim": fi. Private to "margem": eg.
"marfim" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "margem" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "marfim" and "margem" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "marfim" vs "margem" - which ranks higher?
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 "marfim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "margem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,410 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "marfim" and "margem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "margem vs moagem". 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 #59,410 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.