moinhovsmolhoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,401
“moinho” frequency rank
#5,444
“molho” frequency rank
15845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature moinho molho
Definition engenho para moer cereais feixe pequeno

Where the eye mixes moinho and molho

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. moinho runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against molho's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
moinho
5 ch
molho

Visual trap between moinho and molho

A purely visual mix-up. moinho (/mu.ˈi.ɲu/ [muˈiɲu], [ˈmu̯iɲu]) and molho (/ˈmɔ.ʎu/) 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 15845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

moinho is recorded at frequency rank #10,401, classified as anoun, pronounced /mu.ˈi.ɲu/ [muˈiɲu], [ˈmu̯iɲu]. molho is at rank #5,444, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔ.ʎu/.

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 15845, this pair ranks #55,879 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of moinho vs molho

Shared letters: hmo. Private to "moinho": in. Private to "molho": l.

"moinho" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "molho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • moinho ← mionho · mmoinho · moihno · moinhho · moinnho · moinoh · moniho · ominho
  • molho ← mloho · mmolho · mohlo · molhho · mollho · moloh · omlho

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "moinho" and "molho" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mu.ˈi.ɲu/ [muˈiɲu], [ˈmu̯iɲu] versus /ˈmɔ.ʎu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "moinho" or "molho"?
"molho" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,444 in our Portuguese list, against #10,401 for "moinho". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "moinho" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "molho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,879 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "moinho" and "molho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mogno vs moinho". 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 #55,879 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