drone

[drəʊn]

/[drəʊn]/ noun

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

The verdict

“drone” is uncommon German (frequency #58,687 among 45,632 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,687
frequency rank, German
45,632
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - die männliche Biene

Key facts for drone
PropertyValue
Headworddrone
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[drəʊn]
Letters5
Frequency rank#58,687
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “drone” 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). drone lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

drone is uncommon German at frequency #58,687 among 45,632 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [drəʊn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

drone has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is drone, spelled D-R-O-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    die männliche Biene
  2. 2
    das ferngesteuerte Fluggerät
  3. 3
    das gleichbleibend tiefe Geräusch
  4. 4
    die eintönige Arbeit verrichtende Person
  5. 5
    die von anderer Leute Arbeit lebende Person

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 "drone"?
"drone" is spelled D-R-O-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is [drəʊn].
What does "drone" mean?
As a noun, "drone" means: die männliche Biene
How do you pronounce "drone"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "drone" is [drəʊn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "drone" come from?
"drone" 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.

Using “drone”

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

  • The one correct German spelling is D-R-O-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [drəʊn] (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

Other uncommon German words near this rank

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