Castoreum

[kasˈtoːʁeʊm]

/[kasˈtoːʁeʊm]/ noun

The verdict

“Castoreum” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - eine salbenartige stark riechende Masse, die Biber beiderlei Geschlechts in besonderen Drüsen absondern

Corpus desk

Index DE-castoreum · Castoreum · German

Castoreum · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for Castoreum
PropertyValue
HeadwordCastoreum
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[kasˈtoːʁeʊm]
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Castoreum“ im Deutschen

Castoreumliegt außerhalb der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Wörter, im Langschwanz technischer, archaischer oder seltener Formen, genau dort, wo Schreibzweifeln zuschlagen.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Castoreum is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed [kasˈtoːʁeʊm]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "eine salbenartige stark riechende Masse, die Biber beiderlei Geschlechts in besonderen Drüsen absondern".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Castoreum, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is Castoreum, spelled C-A-S-T-O-R-E-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    eine salbenartige stark riechende Masse, die Biber beiderlei Geschlechts in besonderen Drüsen absondern

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die inneren Wandungen dieser Drüsen sind mit einer Schleimhaut überzogen, welche in schuppenähnliche Säckchen und Falten getheilt ist, sondern das sogenannte Biebergeil oder Gail (Castoreum) ab, eine dunkle rothbraune, gelbbraune oder schwarzbraune, ziemlich weiche, salbenartige Masse von eigenthümlich durchdringendem, starkem, nur wenig Leuten angenehmen…
  2. Das Bibergail (Castoreum), in eiförmigen Säcken bestehend, die beiden Geschlechtern eigen und eine aromatische (im frischen Zustand salbenartige) Substanz enthalten, wird von den bayrischen Bibern vorzüglich geschätzt und den amerikanischen und siberischen vorgezogen. (Franz von Kobell, Wildanger, Der Biber, z.n. Projekt Gutenberg)

Synonyms

BiebergeilGail

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Castoreum"?
"Castoreum" is spelled C-A-S-T-O-R-E-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is [kasˈtoːʁeʊm].
What does "Castoreum" mean?
As a noun, "Castoreum" means: eine salbenartige stark riechende Masse, die Biber beiderlei Geschlechts in besonderen Drüsen absondern
How do you pronounce "Castoreum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Castoreum" is [kasˈtoːʁeʊm]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Castoreum" come from?
"Castoreum" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list