pêlovspicoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,526
“pêlo” frequency rank
#6,685
“pico” frequency rank
33211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pêlo pico
Definition vide pelo cume aguçado

Where the eye mixes pêlo and pico

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

4 ch
pêlo
4 ch
pico

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pêlo (/ˈpe.lu/) and pico (/ˈpi.ku/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pêlo is recorded at frequency rank #26,526, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpe.lu/. pico is at rank #6,685, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpi.ku/.

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 33211, this pair ranks #34,362 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pêlo vs pico

Shared letters: op. Private to "pêlo": . Private to "pico": ci.

"pêlo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pico" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • picoipco · pcio · picco · pioc · ppico

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pêlo" and "pico" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpe.lu/ versus /ˈpi.ku/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pêlo" or "pico"?
"pico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,685 in our Portuguese list, against #26,526 for "pêlo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "pêlo" and "pico". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pêlo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #34,362 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pêlo" and "pico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pêlo vs pilão". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list