butterfly

[ˈbʌtəflaɪ]

/[ˈbʌtəflaɪ]/ noun

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

The verdict

“butterfly” has 13 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #29,050. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,050
frequency rank, German
5,818
“B” headwords
13
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Insekt mit meist schlankem Körper und großflächigen, zarten Flügeln; Schmetterling

Corpus desk

Index DE-butterfly · butterfly · German

butterfly · rank #29,050 · 13 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,050
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,818
  • PHOTO-FINISH bösartige

Nearest frequency peer: bösartige (+2 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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „butterfly“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „butterfly“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for butterfly
PropertyValue
Headwordbutterfly
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈbʌtəflaɪ]
Letters9
Frequency rank#29,050
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „butterfly“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.butterflyliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „bösartige“ (#29,052), „brillante“ (#29,047), „Böttcher“ (#29,053). Unter 5,818 „B“-Lemmata liegt „butterfly“ bei #29,050. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around butterfly (IPA [ˈbʌtəflaɪ]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #29,050 among 5,818 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for butterfly, with forms such as "bbutterfly", "btuterfly", and "buterfly". 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. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is butterfly, spelled B-U-T-T-E-R-F-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Insekt mit meist schlankem Körper und großflächigen, zarten Flügeln; Schmetterling
  2. 2
    Schwimmstil, bei dem beide Arme in einer kreisförmigen Bewegung zugleich aus dem Wasser nach vorn gebracht werden und die Beine auf und ab geschlagen werden; Delfinschwimmen, Schmetterlingsstil;
  3. 3
    ein flatterhafter Mensch
  4. 4
    Klappe

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Butterflies feed primarily on nectar from flowers.“
  2. „While the butterfly was difficult, it brought a great improvement in speed.“

Synonyms

butterfly stroke

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbutterfly
  • btuterfly
  • buterfly
  • butetrfly
  • buttefrly
  • butterffly
  • butterflly
  • butterflyy
  • butterfyl
  • butterlfy
  • butterrfly
  • buttrefly
  • ubtterfly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of butterfly - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbutterfly1btuterfly2buterfly1butetrfly2buttefrly2butterffly1butterflly1butterflyy1
Edit distance from "butterfly"

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 "butterfly"?
"butterfly" is spelled B-U-T-T-E-R-F-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈbʌtəflaɪ].
What does "butterfly" mean?
As a noun, "butterfly" means: Insekt mit meist schlankem Körper und großflächigen, zarten Flügeln; Schmetterling
What are common misspellings of "butterfly"?
Common misspellings include "bbutterfly", "btuterfly", "buterfly", "butetrfly", "buttefrly". The correct spelling is "butterfly".
How do you pronounce "butterfly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "butterfly" is [ˈbʌtəflaɪ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "butterfly" come from?
"butterfly" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "butterfly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bösartige#29,052brillante#29,047Blockaden#29,041beziffert#29,037

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

blendend13 variantsBildband13 variantsbesteuert13 variantsBergleute13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list