médiavsmesaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#993
“média” frequency rank
#1,364
“mesa” frequency rank
2357
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature média mesa
Definition valor intermediário móvel usado como superfície para se alimentar, conversar, estudar; távola

Letter map: média vs mesa

Shared letters muted; letters that set média and mesa apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

5 ch
média
4 ch
mesa

Spelling & dictionary notes on média vs mesa

média and mesa are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2357, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

média is recorded at frequency rank #993, classified as anoun. mesa is at rank #1,364, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈme.zɐ/.

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 2357, this pair ranks #73,051 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of média vs mesa

Shared letters: am. Private to "média": dié. Private to "mesa": es.

"média" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "mesa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mesaemsa · meas · messa · mmesa · msea

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "média" for "mesa" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "média" or "mesa"?
"média" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #993 in our Portuguese list, against #1,364 for "mesa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "média" vs "mesa" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "média" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mesa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #73,051 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "média" and "mesa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mesa". 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 #73,051 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list