mediar vs medir, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#33,080
“mediar” frequency rank: #7,434
“medir” frequency rank: 40514
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	mediar	medir
Definition	o mesmo que mear	ter como medida

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mediar and medir apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

mediar

5 ch

medir

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mediar (/mɨ.ˈdjaɾ/) and medir (/mɨ.ˈdiɾ/) 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 40514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mediar is recorded at frequency rank #33,080, classified as averb, pronounced /mɨ.ˈdjaɾ/. medir is at rank #7,434, tagged as averb, pronounced /mɨ.ˈdiɾ/.

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 40514, this pair ranks #25,576 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mediar vs medir

Shared letters: deimr. Private to "mediar": a. Private to "medir": -.

"mediar" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "medir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

mediar ← emdiar · mdeiar · medair · meddiar · mediarr · medira · meidar · mmediar
medir ← emdir · mdeir · meddir · medirr · medri · meidr · mmedir

Frequency comparison

mediar#33,080

medir#7,434

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mediar" and "medir" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/mɨ.ˈdjaɾ/ versus /mɨ.ˈdiɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "mediar" or "medir"?

"medir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,434 in our Portuguese list, against #33,080 for "mediar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mediar vs medir

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 “mediar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable