Elfe

[ˈɛlfə]

/[ˈɛlfə]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Elfe” has 5 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #43,837. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#43,837
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - weibliches Fabelwesen mit menschlicher/menschenähnlicher Gestalt

Corpus desk

Index DE-elfe · Elfe · German

Elfe · rank #43,837 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #43,837
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH eisern

Nearest frequency peer: eisern (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Elfe“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Elfe“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

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).

Elfe vs eye
25% similar
Elfe vs eve
25% similar
Elfe vs eli
25% similar

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

Key facts for Elfe
PropertyValue
HeadwordElfe
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈɛlfə]
Letters4
Frequency rank#43,837
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Elfe“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Elfeliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „eisern“ (#43,835), „Emiraten“ (#43,839), „Eisenhower“ (#43,834). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „Elfe“ bei #43,837. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around Elfe (IPA [ˈɛlfə]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #43,837 among 4,632 “E” headwords. Dominant gloss: "weibliches Fabelwesen mit menschlicher/menschenähnlicher Gestalt".

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for Elfe, with forms such as "efle", "elef", and "elffe". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "eye", "eve", "eli", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Elfe, spelled E-L-F-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    weibliches Fabelwesen mit menschlicher/menschenähnlicher Gestalt

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Das fängt für viele schon bei der anfänglichen Gestaltung der eigenen Figur an, bei der sich ganz elementare Fragen stellen: Will ich eher heilen oder anderen schaden? Sehe ich mich lieber als grünhäutigen Ork oder als spitzohrige Elfe?
  2. „Ist es da ein Wunder, dass jeder zweite Isländer an Elfen glaubt?“

This word in other languages

elfin(English)elfe(Français)fada(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • efle
  • elef
  • elffe
  • ellfe
  • lefe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Elfe - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

efle2elef2elffe1ellfe1lefe2
Edit distance from "Elfe"

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 "Elfe"?
"Elfe" is spelled E-L-F-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈɛlfə].
What does "Elfe" mean?
As a noun, "Elfe" means: weibliches Fabelwesen mit menschlicher/menschenähnlicher Gestalt
What words are commonly confused with "Elfe"?
"Elfe" is commonly confused with "eye", "eve", "eli". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Elfe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Elfe" is [ˈɛlfə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Elfe" come from?
"Elfe" 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 "Elfe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Eber#43,820Bube#43,783Arnd#43,714hurt#43,976

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

bellt5 variantsbegin5 variantsHirse5 variantszorro5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list