das Zünglein an der Waage sein

/[das ˈt͡sʏŋlaɪ̯n an deːɐ̯ ˈvaːɡə zaɪ̯n]/ phrase

The verdict

“das Zünglein an der Waage sein” is outside the top-ranked German vocabulary, used as a phrase — the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
30
letters

Dominant Wiktionary sense: unbedeutende Sache, die jedoch den Ausschlag gibt oder ein entscheidender Faktor ist

Key facts for das Zünglein an der Waage sein
PropertyValue
Headworddas Zünglein an der Waage sein
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[das ˈt͡sʏŋlaɪ̯n an deːɐ̯ ˈvaːɡə zaɪ̯n]
Letters30
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “das Zünglein an der Waage sein” sits in German frequency

das Zünglein an der Waage sein falls outside the top-100,000 ranked German words — the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for das Zünglein an der Waage sein is 30 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [das ˈt͡sʏŋlaɪ̯n an deːɐ̯ ˈvaːɡə zaɪ̯n]. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "unbedeutende Sache, die jedoch den Ausschlag gibt oder ein entscheidender Faktor ist".

No misspelling variants are generated for das Zünglein an der Waage sein in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is das Zünglein an der Waage sein, spelled D-A-S- -Z-Ü-N-G-L-E-I-N- -A-N- -D-E-R- -W-A-A-G-E- -S-E-I-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    unbedeutende Sache, die jedoch den Ausschlag gibt oder ein entscheidender Faktor ist

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "das Zünglein an der Waage sein"?
"das Zünglein an der Waage sein" is spelled D-A-S- -Z-Ü-N-G-L-E-I-N- -A-N- -D-E-R- -W-A-A-G-E- -S-E-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is [das ˈt͡sʏŋlaɪ̯n an deːɐ̯ ˈvaːɡə zaɪ̯n].
What does "das Zünglein an der Waage sein" mean?
As a phrase, "das Zünglein an der Waage sein" means: unbedeutende Sache, die jedoch den Ausschlag gibt oder ein entscheidender Faktor ist
How do you pronounce "das Zünglein an der Waage sein"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "das Zünglein an der Waage sein" is [das ˈt͡sʏŋlaɪ̯n an deːɐ̯ ˈvaːɡə zaɪ̯n]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "das Zünglein an der Waage sein" come from?
"das Zünglein an der Waage sein" 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.

Using “das Zünglein an der Waage sein”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is D-A-S- -Z-Ü-N-G-L-E-I-N- -A-N- -D-E-R- -W-A-A-G-E- -S-E-I-N — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [das ˈt͡sʏŋlaɪ̯n an deːɐ̯ ˈvaːɡə zaɪ̯n] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

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.