sec vs seno, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“sec” is an adjective and “seno” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,268
“sec” frequency rank: #48,110
“seno” frequency rank: 67378
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sec	seno
Definition	seco	em relação a um dos ângulos agudos de um triângulo retângulo, é o resultado da divisão do valor do cateto oposto a este ângulo pelo valor da hipotenusa

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sec and seno apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

sec

4 ch

seno

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sec is \sɛk\ while seno is /ˈsenu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67378, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sec is recorded at frequency rank #19,268, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɛk\. seno is at rank #48,110, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsenu/.

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 67378, this pair ranks #4,645 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sec vs seno

Shared letters: es. Private to "sec": c. Private to "seno": no.

"sec" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "seno" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

seno ← esno · senno · seon · sneo · sseno

Frequency comparison

sec#19,268

seno#48,110

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sec" and "seno" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sec" is an adjective and "seno" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "sec" or "seno"?

"sec" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,268 in our Portuguese list, against #48,110 for "seno". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sec vs seno

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “sec”; for a noun, it's “seno”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sec” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable