ahoi

[aˈhɔɪ̯]

/[aˈhɔɪ̯]/ intj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“ahoi” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #29,909) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#29,909
frequency rank, German
6,976
“A” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - bei der Schifffahrt gebräuchlicher Ausruf, um ein anderes Schiff anzurufen oder auf dieses aufmerksam zu machen

Corpus desk

Index DE-ahoi · ahoi · German

ahoi · rank #29,909 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,909
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,976
  • PHOTO-FINISH Albträume

Nearest frequency peer: Albträume (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „ahoi“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „ahoi“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ahoi vs AI
0% similar
ahoi vs AO
0% similar
ahoi vs Ali
25% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for ahoi
PropertyValue
Headwordahoi
LanguageGerman
Part of speechInterjection
IPA[aˈhɔɪ̯]
Letters4
Frequency rank#29,909
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „ahoi“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).ahoiliegt auf dieser Marke:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Albträume“ (#29,910), „alleinstehende“ (#29,911), „Adressaten“ (#29,906). Unter 6,976 „A“-Lemmata liegt „ahoi“ bei #29,909. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ahoi is neighbouring look-alikes ("AI", "AO", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection pronounced [aˈhɔɪ̯]. Frequency #29,909 among 6,976 “A” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for ahoi, with forms such as "ahhoi", "ahio", and "aohi". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "AI", "AO", "Ali", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is ahoi, spelled A-H-O-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    bei der Schifffahrt gebräuchlicher Ausruf, um ein anderes Schiff anzurufen oder auf dieses aufmerksam zu machen
  2. 2
    allgemeine Begrüßung, die aus der Bedeutung [1] hervorgegangen ist

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how ahoi appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Schiff ahoi!
  2. Ahoi allerseits!

This word in other languages

ahoy(English)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ahhoi
  • ahio
  • aohi
  • haoi

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ahoi - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ahhoi1ahio2aohi2haoi2
Edit distance from "ahoi"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ahoi"?
"ahoi" is spelled A-H-O-I. The IPA pronunciation is [aˈhɔɪ̯].
What does "ahoi" mean?
As an interjection, "ahoi" means: bei der Schifffahrt gebräuchlicher Ausruf, um ein anderes Schiff anzurufen oder auf dieses aufmerksam zu machen
What words are commonly confused with "ahoi"?
"ahoi" is commonly confused with "AI", "AO", "Ali". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ahoi"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ahoi" is [aˈhɔɪ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ahoi" come from?
"ahoi" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ahoi", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Alta#29,913Assi#29,933bolt#29,970Colt#29,990

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list