dreierlei

[ˈdʁaɪ̯ɐlaɪ̯]

/[ˈdʁaɪ̯ɐlaɪ̯]/ pron

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

The verdict

“dreierlei” is uncommon German (frequency #91,488 among 2,764 “D” headwords), classed as a pronoun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#91,488
frequency rank, German
2,764
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - von drei unterschiedlicher Art

Corpus desk

Index DE-dreierlei · dreierlei · German

dreierlei · rank #91,488 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #91,488
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,764
  • PHOTO-FINISH dortiger

Nearest frequency peer: dortiger (-2 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 „dreierlei“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for dreierlei
PropertyValue
Headworddreierlei
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPronoun
IPA[ˈdʁaɪ̯ɐlaɪ̯]
Letters9
Frequency rank#91,488
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „dreierlei“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.dreierleifällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „dortiger“ (#91,486), „Druckausgabe“ (#91,490), „Drucktechnik“ (#91,491). Unter 2,764 „D“-Lemmata liegt „dreierlei“ bei #91,488. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dreierlei is uncommon German at frequency #91,488 among 2,764 “D” headwords, classed as apronoun, transcribed [ˈdʁaɪ̯ɐlaɪ̯]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "von drei unterschiedlicher Art".

No generated misspelling entries exist for dreierlei in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is dreierlei, spelled D-R-E-I-E-R-L-E-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    von drei unterschiedlicher Art

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Heute gibt es Nudeln mit dreierlei Soßen.
  2. „Wenn eine heiße Flüssigkeit abkühlt, dann tut sie das auf dreierlei Weise. Erstens: […].“

This word in other languages

three(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 "dreierlei"?
"dreierlei" is spelled D-R-E-I-E-R-L-E-I. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈdʁaɪ̯ɐlaɪ̯].
What does "dreierlei" mean?
As a pronoun, "dreierlei" means: von drei unterschiedlicher Art
How do you pronounce "dreierlei"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dreierlei" is [ˈdʁaɪ̯ɐlaɪ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "dreierlei" come from?
"dreierlei" 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 "dreierlei", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

divisions#91,483Dissident#91,481Dingsbums#91,478dümmliche#91,503

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list