château

[ʃɑto]

/[ʃɑto]/ noun

The verdict

“château” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #38,670. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#38,670
frequency rank, German
1,273
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - mittelalterlicher, befestigter Wohn- und Verteidigungsbau

Corpus desk

Index DE-chateau · château · German

château · rank #38,670 · 9 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #38,670
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,273
  • PHOTO-FINISH chaotische

Nearest frequency peer: chaotische (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “château”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “château” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

château vs chapeau
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for château
PropertyValue
Headwordchâteau
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ʃɑto]
Letters7
Frequency rank#38,670
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “château” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).châteauliegt hier:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „chaotische“ (#38,668), „creepy“ (#38,672), „cesar“ (#38,667). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around château (IPA [ʃɑto]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #38,670 among 1,273 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for château, with forms such as "cchâteau", "chhâteau", and "chtâeau". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "chapeau", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is château, spelled C-H-Â-T-E-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    mittelalterlicher, befestigter Wohn- und Verteidigungsbau
  2. 2
    prunkvolles und repräsentatives Wohngebäude, meistens von Adelsfamilien

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A nouveau assiégé, le château fut pris en 1435.
  2. Il habite dans un château.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cchâteau
  • chhâteau
  • chtâeau
  • châetau
  • châtaeu
  • châteua
  • châtteau
  • câhteau
  • hcâteau

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of château - 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.

cchâteau1chhâteau1chtâeau2châetau2châtaeu2châteua2châtteau1câhteau2
Edit distance from "château"

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 "château"?
"château" is spelled C-H-Â-T-E-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is [ʃɑto].
What does "château" mean?
As a noun, "château" means: mittelalterlicher, befestigter Wohn- und Verteidigungsbau
What words are commonly confused with "château"?
"château" is commonly confused with "chapeau". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "château"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "château" is [ʃɑto]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "château" come from?
"château" 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 "château", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "château". Here's where to go from here.

  • This headword has one recorded confusable pair with "chapeau". View pair
  • 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #38,670 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list