Which to use
“serviço” and “servidão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #528
- “serviço” frequency rank
- #20,719
- “servidão” frequency rank
- 21247
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | serviço | servidão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o ato de servir | condição de servo |
Where the eye mixes serviço and servidão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. serviço runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against servidão's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between serviço and servidão
A purely visual mix-up. serviço (/sɨɾ.ˈvi.su/) and servidão (/sɨɾ.vi.ˈdɐ̃w̃/) 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 21247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
serviço is recorded at frequency rank #528, classified as anoun, pronounced /sɨɾ.ˈvi.su/. servidão is at rank #20,719, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɨɾ.vi.ˈdɐ̃w̃/.
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 21247, this pair ranks #49,074 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of serviço vs servidão
Shared letters: eiorsv. Private to "serviço": ç. Private to "servidão": dã.
"serviço" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "servidão" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "serviço" and "servidão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "serviço" or "servidão" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "serviço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "servidão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,074 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "serviço" and "servidão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "serviçal vs servidão". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #49,074 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.