Which to use
“penha” and “punho” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,960
- “penha” frequency rank
- #9,395
- “punho” frequency rank
- 17355
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | penha | punho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | rocha, pedra grande na superfície da terra ou do mar | a parte proximal da mão que se articula com o antebraço |
Where the eye mixes penha and punho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between penha and punho
A purely visual mix-up. penha (/ˈpɐj.ɲɐ/) and punho (/ˈpu.ɲu/) 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 17355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
penha is recorded at frequency rank #7,960, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɐj.ɲɐ/. punho is at rank #9,395, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpu.ɲu/.
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 17355, this pair ranks #53,912 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of penha vs punho
Shared letters: hnp. Private to "penha": ae. Private to "punho": ou.
"penha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "punho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "penha" and "punho" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "penha" or "punho" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "penha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "punho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,912 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "penha" and "punho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "penhor vs punho". 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 #53,912 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.