Emil
[ˈeːmiːl]
The verdict
“Emil” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #8,550 in German word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #8,550
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - männlicher Vorname; Emil
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Emil |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | [ˈeːmiːl] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #8,550 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Emil” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Emil is 4 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈeːmiːl]. Corpus data places it at rank #8,550 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "männlicher Vorname; Emil".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for Emil, with forms such as "eiml", "emill", and "emli". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Ems", "Emo", "ewig", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is Emil, spelled E-M-I-L.
Definition
- 1männlicher Vorname; Emil
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eiml,emill,emli,emmil,meil
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Emil - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "Emil"?
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Using “Emil”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is E-M-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈeːmiːl] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Ems” - see the side-by-side comparison. Emil vs Ems
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
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.