medidavsmedulaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,014
“medida” frequency rank
#13,129
“medula” frequency rank
14143
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature medida medula
Definition determinada grandeza que serve de padrão para avaliar outra substância mole contida no interior dos ossos

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set medida and medula apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
medida
6 ch
medula

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. medida (/mɨ.ˈdi.dɐ/) and medula (/mɨ.ˈdu.lɐ/) 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 14143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

medida is recorded at frequency rank #1,014, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ˈdi.dɐ/. medula is at rank #13,129, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ˈdu.lɐ/.

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 14143, this pair ranks #58,028 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of medida vs medula

Shared letters: adem. Private to "medida": i. Private to "medula": lu.

"medida" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "medula" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • medidaemdida · mdeida · meddia · meddida · mediad · medidda · meidda · mmedida
  • medulaemdula · mdeula · meddula · medlua · medual · medulla · meudla · mmedula

Frequency comparison

medida#1,014
medula#13,129

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "medida" and "medula" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɨ.ˈdi.dɐ/ versus /mɨ.ˈdu.lɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "medida" or "medula"?
"medida" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,014 in our Portuguese list, against #13,129 for "medula". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering medida vs medula

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 “medida” 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