Which to use
“meio” is an adjective and “mérito” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #190
- “meio” frequency rank
- #5,324
- “mérito” frequency rank
- 5514
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | meio | mérito |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | designativo de metade | conjunto de características que distinguem algo ou alguém como bom e apreciável: |
Where the eye mixes meio and mérito
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. meio runs 4 letters (CVVV) against mérito's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between meio and mérito
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: meio is /ˈmɐj.u/ while mérito is /ˈmɛ.ɾi.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
meio is recorded at frequency rank #190, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɐj.u/. mérito is at rank #5,324, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛ.ɾi.tu/.
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 5514, this pair ranks #69,081 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of meio vs mérito
Shared letters: imo. Private to "meio": e. Private to "mérito": rté.
"meio" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "mérito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- meio ← emio · meoi · mieo · mmeio
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "meio" and "mérito" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "meio" or "mérito"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "meio" and "mérito" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "meio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mérito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,081 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "meio" and "mérito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "meio vs muso". 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 #69,081 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.