Which to use
“pão” and “pilão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,942
- “pão” frequency rank
- #45,522
- “pilão” frequency rank
- 47464
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pão | pilão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | alimento à base de farinha amassada, fermentada e assada em forno | mão do almofariz |
Where the eye mixes pão and pilão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pão runs 3 letters (CVV) against pilão's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: pão vs pilão
A purely visual mix-up. pão (/ˈpɐ̃w̃/) and pilão (/pi.ˈlɐ̃w̃/) 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 47464, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pão is recorded at frequency rank #1,942, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɐ̃w̃/. pilão is at rank #45,522, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pi.ˈlɐ̃w̃/.
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 47464, this pair ranks #17,784 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pão vs pilão
Shared letters: opã. Private to "pão": -. Private to "pilão": il.
"pão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "pilão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pão" and "pilão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pão" or "pilão" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pilão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,784 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pão" and "pilão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pilão vs platô". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #17,784 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.