Which to use
“meio” and “mesmo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #190
- “meio” frequency rank
- #56
- “mesmo” frequency rank
- 246
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | meio | mesmo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | designativo de metade | que tem igualdade de caráter |
Where the eye mixes meio and mesmo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: meio vs mesmo
A purely visual mix-up. meio (/ˈmɐj.u/) and mesmo (/ˈmeʒ.mu/) 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 246, 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/. mesmo is at rank #56, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmeʒ.mu/.
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 246, this pair ranks #75,394 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of meio vs mesmo
Shared letters: emo. Private to "meio": i. Private to "mesmo": s.
"meio" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "mesmo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "meio" and "mesmo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "meio" or "mesmo" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "meio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mesmo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,394 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "meio" and "mesmo" 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 #75,394 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.