Which to use
“punção” and “punho” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,484
- “punção” frequency rank
- #9,395
- “punho” frequency rank
- 46879
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | punção | punho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ferramenta que consiste numa haste metálica que serve para abrir, lavrar materiais duros | a parte proximal da mão que se articula com o antebraço |
Where the eye mixes punção and punho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. punção runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against punho's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: punção vs punho
A purely visual mix-up. punção (/pũ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
punção is recorded at frequency rank #37,484, classified as anoun, pronounced /pũ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. 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 46879, this pair ranks #18,421 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of punção vs punho
Shared letters: nopu. Private to "punção": ãç. Private to "punho": h.
"punção" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "punho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- punho ← pnuho · ppunho · puhno · punhho · punnho · punoh · upnho
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "punção" for "punho" ever safe?
Which is more common, "punção" or "punho"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "punção" 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 #18,421 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "punção" and "punho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "punção vs puxão". 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 #18,421 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.