TempelvstempleWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,657
“Tempel” frequency rank
#30,323
“temple” frequency rank
34980
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tempel temple
Definition ein einer Gottheit geweihtes, nichtchristliches Gebäude, das der Ausübung einer Religion dient Tempel

Where the eye mixes Tempel and temple

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

6 ch
Tempel
6 ch
temple

Visual trap between Tempel and temple

A purely visual mix-up. Tempel ([ˈtɛmpl̩]) and temple ([tɑ̃pl]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (el ↔ le) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tempel is recorded at frequency rank #4,657, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtɛmpl̩]. temple is at rank #30,323, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɑ̃pl].

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 34980, this pair ranks #1,650,859 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Tempel vs temple

Shared letters: elmpt. Private to "Tempel": -. Private to "temple": -.

"Tempel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "temple" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tempeletmpel · temepl · temmpel · tempell · temppel · tepmel · tmepel · ttempel
  • templeetmple · temlpe · temmple · templle · tempple · tepmle · tmeple · ttemple

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Tempel" and "temple" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtɛmpl̩] versus [tɑ̃pl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Tempel" vs "temple" - which ranks higher?
"Tempel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,657 in our German list, against #30,323 for "temple". 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 "Tempel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "temple" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,650,859 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tempel" and "temple" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "temple vs Templer". 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 #1,650,859 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