Which to use
“pistão” and “prisão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,846
- “pistão” frequency rank
- #834
- “prisão” frequency rank
- 27680
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pistão | prisão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | peça cilíndrica normalmente feita de alumínio ou liga de alumínio, que se move longitudinalmente no interior do cilindro dos motores de explosão | ato ou efeito de prender |
Where the eye mixes pistão and prisão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pistão (CVCCVV) and prisão (CCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: pistão vs prisão
A purely visual mix-up. pistão (/piʃ.ˈtɐ̃w̃/) and prisão (/pɾi.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pistão is recorded at frequency rank #26,846, classified as anoun, pronounced /piʃ.ˈtɐ̃w̃/. prisão is at rank #834, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɾi.ˈzɐ̃w̃/.
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 27680, this pair ranks #41,267 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pistão vs prisão
Shared letters: iopsã. Private to "pistão": t. Private to "prisão": r.
"pistão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "prisão" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pistão" and "prisão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pistão" or "prisão"?
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 "pistão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prisão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #41,267 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pistão" and "prisão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pastar vs pistão". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #41,267 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.