OrdenvsOrkanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,700
“Orden” frequency rank
#25,257
“Orkan” frequency rank
31957
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Orden Orkan
Definition (klösterliche) Gemeinschaft, die unter einem Oberen oder einer Oberin nach bestimmten Regeln lebt und deren Mitglieder bestimmte Gelübde abgelegt haben müssen (durch ein außertropisches Tiefdruckgebiet entstandener) Sturm der zwölften Stufe der Beaufort-Skala; äußerst heftiger Sturm

Where the eye mixes Orden and Orkan

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

5 ch
Orden
5 ch
Orkan

Visual trap between Orden and Orkan

A purely visual mix-up. Orden ([ˈɔʁdn̩]) and Orkan ([ɔʁˈkaːn]) 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 31957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Orden is recorded at frequency rank #6,700, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɔʁdn̩]. Orkan is at rank #25,257, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɔʁˈkaːn].

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 31957, this pair ranks #1,717,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Orden vs Orkan

Shared letters: nor. Private to "Orden": de. Private to "Orkan": ak.

"Orden" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Orkan" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ordenodren · ordden · ordenn · oredn · orrden
  • Orkanorakn · orkann · orkkan · orkna · orrkan · rokan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Orden" for "Orkan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɔʁdn̩] versus [ɔʁˈkaːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Orden" vs "Orkan" - which ranks higher?
"Orden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,700 in our German list, against #25,257 for "Orkan". 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 "Orden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Orkan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,717,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Orden" and "Orkan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "orang vs Orkan". 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 #1,717,690 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