FedervsFedernWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Feder” and “Federn” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,362
“Feder” frequency rank
#8,860
“Federn” frequency rank
17222
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Feder Federn
Definition aus der Haut von Vögeln wachsendes, aus Keratin bestehendes Gebilde mit einer Art hornigem Stiel (dem sogenannten »Kiel«), von dem aus sich feine rippen- oder fadenartige Verästelungen (die sogenannte »Fahne«) abzweigen, und die Gesamtheit dieser Gebilde das Gefieder bildet Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Feder

Where the eye mixes Feder and Federn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Feder
6 ch
Federn

Visual trap between Feder and Federn

A purely visual mix-up. Feder ([ˈfeːdɐ]) and Federn ([ˈfeːdɐn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Feder” sits inside “Federn”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17222, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Feder is recorded at frequency rank #8,362, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːdɐ]. Federn is at rank #8,860, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːdɐn].

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 17222, this pair ranks #1,929,302 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Feder vs Federn

Shared letters: defr. Private to "Feder": -. Private to "Federn": n.

"Feder" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Federn" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Federefder · fdeer · fedder · federr · fedre · feedr · ffeder
  • Federnefdern · fdeern · feddern · fedenr · federnn · federrn · fedren · feedrn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Feder" for "Federn" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfeːdɐ] versus [ˈfeːdɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Feder" or "Federn"?
"Feder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,362 in our German list, against #8,860 for "Federn". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Feder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Federn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,929,302 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Feder" and "Federn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Federn vs Flyern". 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 #1,929,302 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list