Altar
[alˈtaːɐ̯]
The verdict
“Altar” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #8,164 in German word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,164
- frequency rank, German
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - tischähnliche Einrichtung (zum Beispiel in einer Kirche) zur Feier eines Gottesdienstes, zur kultischen Verehrung oder für das Abhalten von Ritualen
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Altar |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [alˈtaːɐ̯] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #8,164 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Altar” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Altar is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [alˈtaːɐ̯]. Corpus data places it at rank #8,164 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "tischähnliche Einrichtung (zum Beispiel in einer Kirche) zur Feier eines Gottesdienstes, zur kultischen Verehrung oder für das Abhalten von Ritualen".
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Altar, with forms such as "alatr", "alltar", and "altarr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ata", "ALTE", "AStA", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is Altar, spelled A-L-T-A-R.
Definition
- 1tischähnliche Einrichtung (zum Beispiel in einer Kirche) zur Feier eines Gottesdienstes, zur kultischen Verehrung oder für das Abhalten von Ritualen
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alatr,alltar,altarr,altra,alttar,atlar,latar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Altar - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “Altar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is A-L-T-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [alˈtaːɐ̯] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ata” - see the side-by-side comparison. Altar vs ata
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.