LimitvsLinieTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,320
“Limit” frequency rank
#996
“Linie” frequency rank
11316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Limit Linie
Definition festgelegter Wert, der nicht überschritten werden darf oder kann (gedachte) gerade oder gekrümmte Verbindung zwischen zwei Punkten

Where the eye mixes Limit and Linie

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Limit
5 ch
Linie

Look-alike desk: Limit vs Linie

A purely visual mix-up. Limit ([ˈlɪmɪt]) and Linie ([ˈliːni̯ə]) 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 11316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Limit is recorded at frequency rank #10,320, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɪmɪt]. Linie is at rank #996, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈliːni̯ə].

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 11316, this pair ranks #1,970,518 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Limit vs Linie

Shared letters: il. Private to "Limit": mt. Private to "Linie": en.

"Limit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Linie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Limitilmit · liimt · limitt · limmit · limti · llimit · lmiit
  • Linieilnie · liine · linei · linnie · llinie · lniie

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Limit" for "Linie" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɪmɪt] versus [ˈliːni̯ə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Limit" or "Linie"?
"Linie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #996 in our German list, against #10,320 for "Limit". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Limit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Linie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,970,518 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Limit" and "Linie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lilith vs Limit". 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 #1,970,518 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