dl

abbrev

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

The verdict

“dl” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #18,513) as an abbreviation. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#18,513
frequency rank, German
2,764
“D” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Deziliter (= ein zehntel Liter)

Corpus desk

Index DE-dl · dl · German

dl · rank #18,513 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,513
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,764
  • PHOTO-FINISH diskriminiert

Nearest frequency peer: diskriminiert (-1 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 “dl”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “dl” 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).

dl vs du
50% similar
dl vs do
50% similar
dl vs dm
50% similar

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

Key facts for dl
PropertyValue
Headworddl
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAbbreviation
Letters2
Frequency rank#18,513
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “dl” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „diskriminiert“ (#18,512), „drop“ (#18,515), „Dichters“ (#18,510). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for dl is neighbouring look-alikes ("du", "do", …), not just typos; it is anabbreviation. Frequency #18,513 among 2,764 “D” headwords. Gloss: "Deziliter (= ein zehntel Liter)".

dl doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "du", "do", "dm", and more, 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 dl, spelled D-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Deziliter (= ein zehntel Liter)

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Zubereitung: 2 Feigen schälen, dann mit Stößel zerdrücken. 4 cl Portwein, einen Teelöffel Honig und 20 dl frischen Orangensaft dazugeben.

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 "dl"?
"dl" is spelled D-L.
What does "dl" mean?
As an abbreviation, "dl" means: Deziliter (= ein zehntel Liter)
What words are commonly confused with "dl"?
"dl" is commonly confused with "du", "do", "dm". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "dl" come from?
"dl" 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.

What to do next

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

  • "dl" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "du". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #18,513 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "D" letter cohort. D–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