Epitaph

[epiˈtaːf]

/[epiˈtaːf]/ noun

The verdict

“Epitaph” is uncommon German (frequency #83,921 among 4,632 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#83,921
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Grabschrift, Grabinschrift

Corpus desk

Index DE-epitaph · Epitaph · German

Epitaph · rank #83,921 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #83,921
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH Entzifferung

Nearest frequency peer: Entzifferung (-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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Epitaph“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Epitaph
PropertyValue
HeadwordEpitaph
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[epiˈtaːf]
Letters7
Frequency rank#83,921
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Epitaph“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Epitaphfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Entzifferung“ (#83,920), „Erbprinz“ (#83,922), „Eremitage“ (#83,923). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „Epitaph“ bei #83,921. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Epitaph is uncommon German at frequency #83,921 among 4,632 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [epiˈtaːf]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Epitaph doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is Epitaph, spelled E-P-I-T-A-P-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Grabschrift, Grabinschrift
  2. 2
    Gedenktafel für einen Verstorbenen an der Kirchenwand, ohne Verbindung zu einem Grab

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Auf dem Grabstein stand ein Epitaph: "Hier ruht …".
  2. „Ihn faszinierten die geheimnisvolle Atmosphäre, die seltsamen Epitaphe in hebräischer Sprache, das Gebüsch und der Nebel, der über den Matzewas schwebte.“

Synonyms

GrabschriftGrabinschriftEpitaphium

This word in other languages

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 "Epitaph"?
"Epitaph" is spelled E-P-I-T-A-P-H. The IPA pronunciation is [epiˈtaːf].
What does "Epitaph" mean?
As a noun, "Epitaph" means: Grabschrift, Grabinschrift
How do you pronounce "Epitaph"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Epitaph" is [epiˈtaːf]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Epitaph" come from?
"Epitaph" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Epitaph", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list