Which to use
“prince” and “príncipe” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,441
- “prince” frequency rank
- #1,505
- “príncipe” frequency rank
- 15946
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prince | príncipe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | príncipe | membro da família reinante |
Where the eye mixes prince and príncipe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. prince runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against príncipe's 8 (CCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between prince and príncipe
A purely visual mix-up. prince (/pʁɛ̃s/) and príncipe (/ˈpɾĩ.sɨ.pɨ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prince is recorded at frequency rank #14,441, classified as anoun, pronounced /pʁɛ̃s/. príncipe is at rank #1,505, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɾĩ.sɨ.pɨ/.
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 15946, this pair ranks #55,759 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prince vs príncipe
Shared letters: ceinpr. Private to "prince": -. Private to "príncipe": í.
"prince" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "príncipe" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- prince ← pirnce · pprince · pricne · princce · prinec · prinnce · prnice · prrince
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prince" and "príncipe" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "prince" or "príncipe"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "prince" and "príncipe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "prince" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "príncipe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,759 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prince" and "príncipe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pinça vs prince". 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 #55,759 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.