auftauen
[ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯ən]
The verdict
“auftauen” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #41,662 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #41,662
- frequency rank, German
- 8
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Gefrorenes vom Eis befreien, schmelzen^([2])
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 | auftauen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯ən] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #41,662 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “auftauen” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for auftauen is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯ən]. Corpus data places it at rank #41,662 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for auftauen, with forms such as "afutauen", "aufatuen", and "aufftauen". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "ausbauen", "auftragen", "Aufgaben", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology 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 auftauen, spelled A-U-F-T-A-U-E-N.
Definition
- 1Gefrorenes vom Eis befreien, schmelzen^([2])
- 2schmelzen^([1])
- 3weniger befangen werden, gesprächiger werden
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: afutauen,aufatuen,aufftauen,auftaeun,auftauenn,auftaune,aufttauen,auftuaen,autfauen,uaftauen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of auftauen - 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.
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 "auftauen"?
What does "auftauen" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "auftauen"?
How do you pronounce "auftauen"?
What language does "auftauen" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “auftauen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is A-U-F-T-A-U-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈaʊ̯fˌtaʊ̯ən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ausbauen” - see the side-by-side comparison. auftauen vs ausbauen
- 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.