terçovsterraçoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“terço” and “terraço” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,716
“terço” frequency rank
#11,170
“terraço” frequency rank
17886
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature terço terraço
Definition uma das subdivisões do rosário cristão pavimento descoberto no alto ou ao nível do pavimento duma casa

Where the eye mixes terço and terraço

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. terço runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against terraço's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
terço
7 ch
terraço

Visual trap between terço and terraço

A purely visual mix-up. terço (/ˈteɾ.su/) and terraço (/tɨ.ˈRa.su/) 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 17886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

terço is recorded at frequency rank #6,716, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈteɾ.su/. terraço is at rank #11,170, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɨ.ˈRa.su/.

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 17886, this pair ranks #53,245 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of terço vs terraço

Shared letters: eortç. Private to "terço": -. Private to "terraço": a.

"terço" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "terraço" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "terço" and "terraço" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈteɾ.su/ versus /tɨ.ˈRa.su/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "terço" or "terraço" show up more?
"terço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,716 in our Portuguese list, against #11,170 for "terraço". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "terço" and "terraço" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "terço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "terraço" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #53,245 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "terço" and "terraço" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tengo vs terço". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #53,245 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list