pequivsPeruWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#48,056
“pequi” frequency rank
#2,439
“Peru” frequency rank
50495
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pequi Peru
Definition fruto da árvore Caryocar brasiliense, típica do cerrado brasileiro, casca verde e grossa, com polpa interna de coloração amarelo-escura e comestível (servida cozida, é roída) e de onde se extrai óleo, parte interna crivada de pequenos espinhos bastante agudos e com uma amêndoa também comestível em seu âmago, fazendo parte da culinária do norte mineiro, sertão baiano e dos estados da região Centro-Oeste onde é cozido puro, com pirão, ou em galinhada, no arroz, etc. Peru

Where the eye mixes pequi and Peru

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pequi runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against Peru's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
pequi
4 ch
Peru

Look-alike desk: pequi vs Peru

A purely visual mix-up. pequi (/peˈki/, /ˌpeˈki/, /piˈki/) and Peru (/peˈruː/) 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 50495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pequi is recorded at frequency rank #48,056, classified as anoun, pronounced /peˈki/, /ˌpeˈki/, /piˈki/. Peru is at rank #2,439, tagged as anoun, pronounced /peˈruː/.

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 50495, this pair ranks #14,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pequi vs Peru

Shared letters: epu. Private to "pequi": iq. Private to "Peru": r.

"pequi" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "Peru" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pequi ← epqui · peqiu · peqqui · peuqi · ppequi · pqeui
  • Peru ← epru · perru · peur · pperu · preu

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pequi" for "Peru" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/peˈki/, /ˌpeˈki/, /piˈki/ versus /peˈruː/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pequi" vs "Peru" - which ranks higher?
"Peru" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,439 in our Portuguese list, against #48,056 for "pequi". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "pequi" and "Peru" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pequi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Peru" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pequi" and "Peru" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pequi vs pique". 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 #14,461 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