clam

[klæm]

/[klæm]/ noun

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

The verdict

“clam” is uncommon German (frequency #92,744 among 1,273 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#92,744
frequency rank, German
1,273
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - die Venusmuschel

Corpus desk

Index DE-clam · clam · German

clam · rank #92,744 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #92,744
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,273
  • PHOTO-FINISH Champignon

Nearest frequency peer: Champignon (-3 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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „clam“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „clam“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for clam
PropertyValue
Headwordclam
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[klæm]
Letters4
Frequency rank#92,744
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „clam“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).clamfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Champignon“ (#92,741), „Corporal“ (#92,747), „Coups“ (#92,748). Unter 1,273 „C“-Lemmata liegt „clam“ bei #92,744. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

clam is uncommon German at frequency #92,744 among 1,273 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [klæm]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "die Venusmuschel".

No misspelling variants are generated for clam in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, 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 clam, spelled C-L-A-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    die Venusmuschel

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. "In October 2007 an Arctica islandica clam, caught off the coast of Iceland, was discovered to be at least 405 years old, and was declared the world's oldest living animal by researchers from Bangor University."

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 "clam"?
"clam" is spelled C-L-A-M. The IPA pronunciation is [klæm].
What does "clam" mean?
As a noun, "clam" means: die Venusmuschel
How do you pronounce "clam"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "clam" is [klæm]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "clam" come from?
"clam" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "clam", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fili#92,894Flöz#92,903aide#92,552yara#92,490

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list