milhão vs missão, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“milhão” and “missão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,895
“milhão” frequency rank: #965
“missão” frequency rank: 2860
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	milhão	missão
Definition	grande quantidade incontável:	função ou poder que se confere a alguém para agir

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set milhão and missão apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

milhão

6 ch

missão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

milhão and missão are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2860, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

milhão is recorded at frequency rank #1,895, classified as anoun. missão is at rank #965, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mi.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.

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 2860, this pair ranks #72,387 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of milhão vs missão

Shared letters: imoã. Private to "milhão": hl. Private to "missão": s.

"milhão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "missão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

milhão#1,895

missão#965

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "milhão" and "missão" be used interchangeably?

No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "milhão" or "missão"?

"missão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #965 in our Portuguese list, against #1,895 for "milhão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering milhão vs missão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “milhão” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable