Which to use
“meio” is an adjective and “muto” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #190
- “meio” frequency rank
- #43,549
- “muto” frequency rank
- 43739
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | meio | muto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | designativo de metade | mudar algo de sítio, remover. |
Where the eye mixes meio and muto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. meio (CVVV) and muto (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between meio and muto
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: meio is /ˈmɐj.u/ while muto is /ˈmuː.toː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43739, 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/. muto is at rank #43,549, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmuː.toː/.
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 43739, this pair ranks #21,876 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of meio vs muto
Shared letters: mo. Private to "meio": ei. Private to "muto": tu.
"meio" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "muto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "meio" for "muto" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "meio" or "muto" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "muto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,876 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "meio" and "muto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "muso vs muto". 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 #21,876 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.