DB

abbrev

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

The verdict

“DB” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #4,335 in German word frequency and used as an abbreviation.

#4,335
frequency rank, German
2
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Deutsche Bundesbahn

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

DB vs du
0% similar
DB vs de
0% similar
DB vs do
0% similar

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

Key facts for DB
PropertyValue
HeadwordDB
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAbbreviation
Letters2
Frequency rank#4,335
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “DB” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). DB lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for DB is 2 letters long, classified as an abbreviation. Corpus data places it at rank #4,335 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No generated misspelling entries exist for DB in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "du", "de", "do", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

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 DB, spelled D-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    Deutsche Bundesbahn
  2. 2
    Deutsche Bahn
  3. 3
    Deutsche Bücherei
  4. 4
    Deckungsbeitrag
  5. 5
    Datenbank

This word in other languages

DB(English)

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 "DB"?
"DB" is spelled D-B.
What does "DB" mean?
As an abbreviation, "DB" means: Deutsche Bundesbahn
What words are commonly confused with "DB"?
"DB" is commonly confused with "du", "de", "do". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "DB" come from?
"DB" 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 “DB”

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

  • The one correct German spelling is D-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “du” - see the side-by-side comparison. DB vs du
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list