besteigen
[bəˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩]
The verdict
“besteigen” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #23,050 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #23,050
- frequency rank, German
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - sich zu einem hochgelegenen oder erhöhten Ort begeben
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 | besteigen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [bəˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩] |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #23,050 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “besteigen” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for besteigen is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [bəˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #23,050 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for besteigen, with forms such as "bbesteigen", "besetigen", and "bessteigen". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "Bestien", "bestellen", "bestiegen", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is besteigen, spelled B-E-S-T-E-I-G-E-N.
Definition
- 1sich zu einem hochgelegenen oder erhöhten Ort begeben
- 2auf einem Reittier Platz nehmen
- 3ein Fortbewegungsmittel betreten
- 4ein weltliches oder kirchliches Amt annehmen, das als Ausdruck seiner Würde und Bedeutung mit einem Stuhl oder Thron verbunden ist
- 5den Geschlechtsakt vollführen (bei Tieren)
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbesteigen,besetigen,bessteigen,bestegien,besteiegn,besteigenn,besteiggen,besteigne,bestteigen,betseigen,bseteigen,ebsteigen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of besteigen - 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
How do you spell "besteigen"?
What does "besteigen" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "besteigen"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “besteigen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is B-E-S-T-E-I-G-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [bəˈʃtaɪ̯ɡn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Bestien” - see the side-by-side comparison. besteigen vs Bestien
- 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.