Which to use
“varela” and “vela” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,406
- “varela” frequency rank
- #5,478
- “vela” frequency rank
- 22884
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | varela | vela |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | homem casado que, em relação à mulher, é o meio termo entre varão e varunca | peça de brim ou lona que, presa às vergas de um mastro ou ao próprio mastro da embarcação, impele esta com a ajuda do vento |
Letter map: varela vs vela
Shared letters muted; letters that set varela and vela apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. varela runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against vela's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Pair insight - varela / vela
varela and vela are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22884, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
varela is recorded at frequency rank #17,406, classified as anoun. vela is at rank #5,478, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɛ.lɐ/.
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 22884, this pair ranks #47,053 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of varela vs vela
Shared letters: aelv. Private to "varela": r. Private to "vela": -.
"varela" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "vela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "varela" for "vela" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "varela" or "vela" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "varela" and "vela". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "varela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vela" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,053 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "varela" and "vela" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "varela vs vareta". 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 #47,053 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.