metavsmutoConfusable pair

Quick tell: meta is a noun, muto is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“meta” is a noun and “muto” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,523
“meta” frequency rank
#43,549
“muto” frequency rank
46072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature meta muto
Definition alvo, objetivo mudar algo de sítio, remover.

Where the eye mixes meta and muto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
meta
4 ch
muto

Why the eye confuses meta with muto

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: meta is /ˈmɛ.tɐ/ 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

meta is recorded at frequency rank #2,523, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛ.tɐ/. 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 46072, this pair ranks #19,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of meta vs muto

Shared letters: mt. Private to "meta": ae. Private to "muto": ou.

"meta" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "muto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • metaemta · meat · metta · mmeta · mtea
  • mutommuto · mtuo · muot · mutto · umto

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "meta" for "muto" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "meta" is a noun and "muto" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "meta" or "muto" show up more?
"meta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,523 in our Portuguese list, against #43,549 for "muto". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "meta" 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 #19,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "meta" 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 #19,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list