Which to use
“pavio” and “povo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,849
- “pavio” frequency rank
- #432
- “povo” frequency rank
- 39281
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pavio | povo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | cabo das velas, círios, candeias, mecha | conjunto dos habitantes de um país, de uma cidade, de uma localidade, etc |
Where the eye mixes pavio and povo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pavio runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against povo's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pavio with povo
A purely visual mix-up. pavio (/pɐ.ˈvi.u/) and povo (/ˈpo.vu/) 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 39281, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pavio is recorded at frequency rank #38,849, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɐ.ˈvi.u/. povo is at rank #432, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpo.vu/.
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 39281, this pair ranks #27,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pavio vs povo
Shared letters: opv. Private to "pavio": ai. Private to "povo": -.
"pavio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "povo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pavio" for "povo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pavio" vs "povo" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pavio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "povo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pavio" and "povo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "papiro vs pavio". 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 #27,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.