Which to use
“terço” and “tordo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,716
- “terço” frequency rank
- #40,815
- “tordo” frequency rank
- 47531
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | terço | tordo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | uma das subdivisões do rosário cristão | gênero de pássaros dentirrostros |
Where the eye mixes terço and tordo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. terço and tordo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between terço and tordo
A purely visual mix-up. terço (/ˈteɾ.su/) and tordo (/ˈtoɾ.du/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47531, 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/. tordo is at rank #40,815, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtoɾ.du/.
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 47531, this pair ranks #17,705 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of terço vs tordo
Shared letters: ort. Private to "terço": eç. Private to "tordo": d.
"terço" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tordo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tordo ← otrdo · todro · torddo · torod · torrdo · trodo · ttordo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "terço" and "tordo" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "terço" or "tordo" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "terço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tordo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,705 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "terço" and "tordo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tordo vs turvo". 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 #17,705 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.