Ballast

/[ˈbalast]/ noun

Letters

7 characters

Frequency Rank

#25,455

in German word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

7

similar word pairs

Ballast is aGermannoun. It means: Stoff oder Bauteil, das für seine Größe vergleichsweise schwer ist und zur Stabilisierung des Objektes, auf welchem es geladen ist (zum Beispiel auf Schiffen, Ballonen, U-Booten und anderen Tauchfa... Pronounced [ˈbalast]. Often confused with bläst and balls.

Key facts for Ballast
PropertyValue
HeadwordBallast
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈbalast]
Letters7
Frequency rank#25,455
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Ballast in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for Ballast is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈbalast]. Corpus data places it at rank #25,455 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 Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for Ballast, with forms such as "abllast", "balalst", and "balast". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "bläst", "balls", "ballet", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is Ballast, spelled B-A-L-L-A-S-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Stoff oder Bauteil, das für seine Größe vergleichsweise schwer ist und zur Stabilisierung des Objektes, auf welchem es geladen ist (zum Beispiel auf Schiffen, Ballonen, U-Booten und anderen Tauchfahrzeugen) dient
  2. 2
    überflüssige Ladung, nicht benötigtes Gepäck
  3. 3
    Belastung, Last, Bürde

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: abllast,balalst,balast,ballasst,ballastt,ballats,ballsat,bballast,blalast

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Ballast

Misspelling Variants of "Ballast"

abllast7balalst7balast6ballasst8ballastt8ballats7ballsat7bballast8
Misspelling Variants of "Ballast"

Frequency rank: #25,455 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Ballast"?
"Ballast" is spelled B-A-L-L-A-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈbalast].
What does "Ballast" mean?
As a noun, "Ballast" means: Stoff oder Bauteil, das für seine Größe vergleichsweise schwer ist und zur Stabilisierung des Objektes, auf welchem es geladen ist (zum Beispiel auf Schiffen, Ballonen, U-Booten und anderen Tauchfa...
What words are commonly confused with "Ballast"?
"Ballast" is commonly confused with "bläst", "balls", "ballet". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Ballast"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Ballast" is [ˈbalast]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Ballast" come from?
"Ballast" 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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter B in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.