RautevsRuneConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#32,734
“Raute” frequency rank
#40,805
“Rune” frequency rank
73539
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Raute Rune
Definition Viereck mit vier gleichlangen Seiten älteste Schriftzeichen der Germanen

Where the eye mixes Raute and Rune

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Raute runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against Rune's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Raute
4 ch
Rune

Visual trap between Raute and Rune

A purely visual mix-up. Raute ([ˈʁaʊ̯tə]) and Rune ([ˈʁuːnə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Raute is recorded at frequency rank #32,734, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁaʊ̯tə]. Rune is at rank #40,805, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʁuːnə].

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 73539, this pair ranks #357,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Raute vs Rune

Shared letters: eru. Private to "Raute": at. Private to "Rune": n.

"Raute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Rune" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Raute ← arute · ratue · rauet · rautte · rraute · ruate
  • Rune ← rnue · rrune · ruen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Raute" and "Rune" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʁaʊ̯tə] versus [ˈʁuːnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Raute" or "Rune"?
"Raute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,734 in our German list, against #40,805 for "Rune". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Raute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Rune" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #357,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Raute" and "Rune" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "RUB vs Rune". 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 #357,666 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