leafvsLenzWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,777
“leaf” frequency rank
#11,920
“Lenz” frequency rank
46697
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leaf Lenz
Definition Blumenblatt, Blatt die erste Jahreszeit, Frühling

Where the eye mixes leaf and Lenz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
leaf
4 ch
Lenz

Visual trap between leaf and Lenz

A purely visual mix-up. leaf ([liːf]) and Lenz ([lɛnt͡s]) 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 46697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leaf is recorded at frequency rank #34,777, classified as anoun, pronounced [liːf]. Lenz is at rank #11,920, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɛnt͡s].

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 46697, this pair ranks #1,310,161 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leaf vs Lenz

Shared letters: el. Private to "leaf": af. Private to "Lenz": nz.

"leaf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Lenz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leafelaf · laef · leaff · lefa · lleaf
  • Lenzelnz · lennz · lenzz · lezn · llenz · lnez

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leaf" and "Lenz" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([liːf] versus [lɛnt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "leaf" or "Lenz"?
"Lenz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,920 in our German list, against #34,777 for "leaf". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "leaf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lenz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,310,161 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leaf" and "Lenz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leaf vs Lees". 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 #1,310,161 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