FedervsFremderWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,362
“Feder” frequency rank
#8,054
“Fremder” frequency rank
16416
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Feder Fremder
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 jemand, den man nicht kennt

Where the eye mixes Feder and Fremder

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Feder runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Fremder's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Feder
7 ch
Fremder

Look-alike desk: Feder vs Fremder

A purely visual mix-up. Feder ([ˈfeːdɐ]) and Fremder ([ˈfʁɛmdɐ]) 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 16416, 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]. Fremder is at rank #8,054, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁɛmdɐ].

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 16416, this pair ranks #1,936,046 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Feder vs Fremder

Shared letters: defr. Private to "Feder": -. Private to "Fremder": m.

"Feder" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Fremder" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Federefder · fdeer · fedder · federr · fedre · feedr · ffeder
  • Fremderfermder · ffremder · fredmer · fremdder · fremderr · fremdre · fremedr · fremmder

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Feder" and "Fremder" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfeːdɐ] versus [ˈfʁɛmdɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Feder" or "Fremder"?
"Fremder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,054 in our German list, against #8,362 for "Feder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "Fremder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,936,046 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Feder" and "Fremder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Feder vs fixer". 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 #1,936,046 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