Which to use
“besiegen” and “biegen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,434
- “besiegen” frequency rank
- #15,049
- “biegen” frequency rank
- 25483
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | besiegen | biegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | den Sieg über jemanden erringen | einen Gegenstand so verformen, dass sich die Krümmung des Gegenstands ändert |
Where the eye mixes besiegen and biegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. besiegen runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against biegen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: besiegen vs biegen
A purely visual mix-up. besiegen ([bəˈziːɡn̩]) and biegen ([ˈbiːɡn̩]) 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 25483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
besiegen is recorded at frequency rank #10,434, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈziːɡn̩]. biegen is at rank #15,049, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbiːɡn̩].
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 25483, this pair ranks #1,832,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of besiegen vs biegen
Shared letters: begin. Private to "besiegen": s. Private to "biegen": -.
"besiegen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "biegen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "besiegen" and "biegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "besiegen" or "biegen" 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 "besiegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "biegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,832,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "besiegen" and "biegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "biegen vs borgen". 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 #1,832,591 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.