HimmelvsHummelTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,295
“Himmel” frequency rank
#17,615
“Hummel” frequency rank
18910
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Himmel Hummel
Definition Luftraum, Gewölbe über der Erde Vertreter einer Gattung aus der Familie der Echte Bienen mit plumpem, rundlichem Körper und einem pelzigen, häufig bunten Haarkleid (Bombus)

Where the eye mixes Himmel and Hummel

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

6 ch
Himmel
6 ch
Hummel

Look-alike desk: Himmel vs Hummel

A purely visual mix-up. Himmel ([ˈhɪml̩]) and Hummel ([ˈhʊml̩]) 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 a single letter - i in “Himmel” becomes u in “Hummel”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18910, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Himmel is recorded at frequency rank #1,295, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈhɪml̩]. Hummel is at rank #17,615, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhʊml̩].

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 18910, this pair ranks #1,913,642 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Himmel vs Hummel

Shared letters: ehlm. Private to "Himmel": i. Private to "Hummel": u.

"Himmel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Hummel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Himmelhhimmel · himel · himeml · himmell · himmle · hmimel · ihmmel
  • Hummelhhummel · hmumel · humel · humeml · hummell · hummle · uhmmel

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Himmel" and "Hummel" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈhɪml̩] versus [ˈhʊml̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Himmel" or "Hummel"?
"Himmel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,295 in our German list, against #17,615 for "Hummel". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Himmel" and "Hummel" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Himmel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hummel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,913,642 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Himmel" and "Hummel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Hemmer vs Hummel". 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 #1,913,642 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