ek

[ɛk]

/[ɛk]/ prep

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

The verdict

“ek” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #23,492) as a preposition. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#23,492
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - aus einem Gebiet oder Raum heraus/hinaus

Corpus desk

Index DE-ek · ek · German

ek · rank #23,492 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,492
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH Einzugsgebiet

Nearest frequency peer: Einzugsgebiet (-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 “ek”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “ek” 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).

ek vs es
50% similar
ek vs er
50% similar
ek vs EU
0% similar

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

Key facts for ek
PropertyValue
Headwordek
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPreposition
IPA[ɛk]
Letters2
Frequency rank#23,492
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “ek” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Einzugsgebiet“ (#23,491), „Elements“ (#23,493), „einseitigen“ (#23,490). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ek is neighbouring look-alikes ("es", "er", …), not just typos; it is apreposition pronounced [ɛk]. Frequency #23,492 among 4,632 “E” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for ek, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "es", "er", "EU", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology 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 ek, spelled E-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    aus einem Gebiet oder Raum heraus/hinaus
  2. 2
    Element/Teil einer Gruppe seiend, zu einer Gruppe gehörend
  3. 3
    gemacht, erstellt aus
  4. 4
    Zahl x aus/von einem Gesamtbetrag

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Me iras ek la gdomo aden ja gardeno.
  2. Nur unu ek la grupo esis brava.

Synonyms

de

Antonyms

adenen

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 "ek"?
"ek" is spelled E-K. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛk].
What does "ek" mean?
As a preposition, "ek" means: aus einem Gebiet oder Raum heraus/hinaus
What words are commonly confused with "ek"?
"ek" is commonly confused with "es", "er", "EU". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ek"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ek" is [ɛk]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ek" come from?
"ek" 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.

What to do next

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

  • "ek" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "es". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #23,492 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "E" letter cohort. E–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