Which to use
“melancia” and “melancolia” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,389
- “melancia” frequency rank
- #20,658
- “melancolia” frequency rank
- 39047
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | melancia | melancolia |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | planta da família das Cucurbitáceas com grandes frutos comestíveis | tristeza profunda, mórbida |
Where the eye mixes melancia and melancolia
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. melancia runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVV) against melancolia's 10 (CVCVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses melancia with melancolia
A purely visual mix-up. melancia (/mɨ.lɐ̃.ˈsi.ɐ/) and melancolia (/mɨ.lɐ̃.ku.ˈli.ɐ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
melancia is recorded at frequency rank #18,389, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.lɐ̃.ˈsi.ɐ/. melancolia is at rank #20,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.lɐ̃.ku.ˈli.ɐ/.
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 39047, this pair ranks #27,307 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of melancia vs melancolia
Shared letters: aceilmn. Private to "melancia": -. Private to "melancolia": o.
"melancia" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "melancolia" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- melancia ← emlancia · mealncia · melacnia · melancai · melanccia · melanica · melanncia · mellancia
- melancolia ← emlancolia · mealncolia · melacnolia · melanccolia · melancloia · melancoila · melancolai · melancollia
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "melancia" and "melancolia" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "melancia" or "melancolia"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "melancia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "melancolia" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,307 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "melancia" and "melancolia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "melancia vs melanoma". 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 #27,307 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.