SchildvsshieldTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,303
“Schild” frequency rank
#18,063
“shield” frequency rank
22366
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schild shield
Definition frühzeitliche/mittelalterliche Platte zum Schutz des eigenen Körpers im Kampf (oft versehen mit dem Erkennungswappen des jeweiligen Schildträgers; hieraus ist die Bedeutung des "Schild(e)s als Informationsträger" (siehe unten) entstanden) Schild, Schirm

Where the eye mixes Schild and shield

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Schild
6 ch
shield

Visual trap between Schild and shield

A purely visual mix-up. Schild ([ʃɪlt]) and shield ([ʃiːld]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schild is recorded at frequency rank #4,303, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃɪlt]. shield is at rank #18,063, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃiːld].

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 22366, this pair ranks #1,875,052 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schild vs shield

Shared letters: dhils. Private to "Schild": c. Private to "shield": e.

"Schild" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC  ·  "shield" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schildcshild · scchild · schhild · schidl · schildd · schilld · schlid · scihld
  • shieldhsield · sheild · shhield · shiedl · shieldd · shielld · shiled · siheld

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Schild" and "shield" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃɪlt] versus [ʃiːld]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Schild" or "shield"?
"Schild" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,303 in our German list, against #18,063 for "shield". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schild" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "shield" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,875,052 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schild" and "shield" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schiele vs shield". 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 #1,875,052 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