Altern
[ˈaltɐn]
The verdict
“Altern” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #18,796 in German word frequency and used as a noun.
- #18,796
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Älterwerden
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 | Altern |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈaltɐn] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #18,796 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Altern” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Altern is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈaltɐn]. Corpus data places it at rank #18,796 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Älterwerden".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Altern, with forms such as "aletrn", "alltern", and "altenr". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Arten", "altes", "Ämter", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Altern, spelled A-L-T-E-R-N.
Definition
- 1Älterwerden
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aletrn,alltern,altenr,alternn,alterrn,altren,alttern,atlern,latern
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Altern - 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 “Altern”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is A-L-T-E-R-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈaltɐn] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Arten” - see the side-by-side comparison. Altern vs Arten
- 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.