ZielvsZinkConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#576
“Ziel” frequency rank
#15,274
“Zink” frequency rank
15850
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ziel Zink
Definition Ausrichtung oder Endpunkt einer Bestrebung chemisches Element mit der Ordnungszahl 30; bläulich-weißes, leicht formbares Metall

Where the eye mixes Ziel and Zink

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Ziel
4 ch
Zink

Visual trap between Ziel and Zink

A purely visual mix-up. Ziel ([t͡siːl]) and Zink ([t͡sɪŋk]) 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 15850, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ziel is recorded at frequency rank #576, classified as anoun, pronounced [t͡siːl]. Zink is at rank #15,274, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t͡sɪŋk].

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 15850, this pair ranks #1,940,648 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ziel vs Zink

Shared letters: iz. Private to "Ziel": el. Private to "Zink": kn.

"Ziel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Zink" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Zielizel · ziell · zile · zziel
  • Zinkiznk · zikn · zinkk · zinnk · znik · zzink

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ziel" and "Zink" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([t͡siːl] versus [t͡sɪŋk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Ziel" or "Zink"?
"Ziel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #576 in our German list, against #15,274 for "Zink". 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 "Ziel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Zink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,940,648 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ziel" and "Zink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Zicke vs Zink". 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 #1,940,648 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