de lege lata

/[deː ˈleːɡə ˈlaːta]/ phrase

The verdict

“de lege lata” 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
12
letters

Dominant Wiktionary sense: nach geltendem Recht

Key facts for de lege lata
PropertyValue
Headwordde lege lata
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[deː ˈleːɡə ˈlaːta]
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “de lege lata” sits in German frequency

de lege lata 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 de lege lata is 12 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [deː ˈleːɡə ˈlaːta]. 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: "nach geltendem Recht".

No misspelling variants are generated for de lege lata 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 de lege lata, spelled D-E- -L-E-G-E- -L-A-T-A, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    nach geltendem Recht

Antonyms

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "de lege lata"?
"de lege lata" is spelled D-E- -L-E-G-E- -L-A-T-A. The IPA pronunciation is [deː ˈleːɡə ˈlaːta].
What does "de lege lata" mean?
As a phrase, "de lege lata" means: nach geltendem Recht
How do you pronounce "de lege lata"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "de lege lata" is [deː ˈleːɡə ˈlaːta]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "de lege lata" come from?
"de lege lata" 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 “de lege lata”

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

  • The one correct German spelling is D-E- -L-E-G-E- -L-A-T-A — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [deː ˈleːɡə ˈlaːta] (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:

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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.