KeltenvskelvinTell them apart

Which to use

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

#30,634
“Kelten” frequency rank
#33,145
“kelvin” frequency rank
63779
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kelten kelvin
Definition eine Volksgruppe der europäischen Antike bis zur Eisenzeit physikalische Basiseinheit, Temperatureinheit; Kelvin

Where the eye mixes Kelten and kelvin

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Kelten and kelvin follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Kelten
6 ch
kelvin

Look-alike desk: Kelten vs kelvin

A purely visual mix-up. Kelten ([ˈkɛltn̩]) and kelvin ([ˈkɛlvɪn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kelten is recorded at frequency rank #30,634, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛltn̩]. kelvin is at rank #33,145, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛlvɪn].

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 63779, this pair ranks #664,685 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kelten vs kelvin

Shared letters: ekln. Private to "Kelten": t. Private to "kelvin": iv.

"Kelten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "kelvin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kelten ← eklten · keletn · kellten · keltenn · keltne · keltten · ketlen · kkelten
  • kelvin ← eklvin · kelivn · kellvin · kelvinn · kelvni · kelvvin · kevlin · kkelvin

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kelten" for "kelvin" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛltn̩] versus [ˈkɛlvɪn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kelten" or "kelvin"?
"Kelten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,634 in our German list, against #33,145 for "kelvin". 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 "Kelten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kelvin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #664,685 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kelten" and "kelvin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kelten vs kitten". 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 #664,685 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