FedervsfiberTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,362
“Feder” frequency rank
#47,388
“fiber” frequency rank
55750
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Feder fiber
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 Faser

Letter map: Feder vs fiber

Shared letters muted; letters that set Feder and fiber apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. Feder and fiber follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Feder
5 ch
fiber

Pair insight - Feder / fiber

Feder and fiber are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55750, 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]. fiber is at rank #47,388, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 55750, this pair ranks #967,289 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Feder vs fiber

Shared letters: efr. Private to "Feder": d. Private to "fiber": bi.

"Feder" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fiber" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Feder ← efder · fdeer · fedder · federr · fedre · feedr · ffeder
  • fiber ← fbier · ffiber · fibber · fiberr · fibre · fiebr · ifber

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Feder" for "fiber" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "Feder" vs "fiber" - which ranks higher?
"Feder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,362 in our German list, against #47,388 for "fiber". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Feder" and "fiber".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Feder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fiber" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #967,289 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Feder" and "fiber" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fiber vs puzzles". 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 #967,289 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