AO

[aːˈʔoː]

/[aːˈʔoː]/ abbrev

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

The verdict

“AO” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #13,309) as an abbreviation. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#13,309
frequency rank, German
6,976
“A” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Abgabenordnung

Corpus desk

Index DE-ao · AO · German

AO · rank #13,309 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,309
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,976
  • PHOTO-FINISH anrichten

Nearest frequency peer: anrichten (-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 „AO“

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

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „AO“ 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).

AO vs at
0% similar
AO vs as
0% similar
AO vs AP
50% similar

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

Key facts for AO
PropertyValue
HeadwordAO
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAbbreviation
IPA[aːˈʔoː]
Letters2
Frequency rank#13,309
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „AO“

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „anrichten“ (#13,308), „Apostel“ (#13,310), „Anreise“ (#13,307). Unter 6,976 „A“-Lemmata liegt „AO“ bei #13,309. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for AO is neighbouring look-alikes ("at", "as", …), not just typos; it is anabbreviation pronounced [aːˈʔoː]. Frequency #13,309 among 6,976 “A” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

AO has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "at", "as", "AP", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is AO, spelled A-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Abgabenordnung
  2. 2
    Anordnung
  3. 3
    Atomorbital
  4. 4
    Aosta, Aostatal (Kfz-Kennzeichen)
  5. 5
    Oblast Transkarpatien (Kfz-Kennzeichen)
  6. 6
    Achaia (Kfz-Kennzeichen für Motorräder)
  7. 7
    Norwich (Kfz-Kennzeichen)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die AO regelt die Festsetzung der Steuer.
  2. Dieser AO ist unbedingt Folge zu leisten.

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 "AO"?
"AO" is spelled A-O. The IPA pronunciation is [aːˈʔoː].
What does "AO" mean?
As an abbreviation, "AO" means: Abgabenordnung
What words are commonly confused with "AO"?
"AO" is commonly confused with "at", "as", "AP". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "AO"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "AO" is [aːˈʔoː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "AO" come from?
"AO" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list