Erlkönig

[ˈɛʁlkøːnɪç]

/[ˈɛʁlkøːnɪç]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Erlkönig” is uncommon German (frequency #71,291 among 4,632 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,291
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - nicht recht fassbare Schauergestalt, Titel einer Ballade von Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1782) (vertont von Franz Schubert und Carl Loewe)

Corpus desk

Index DE-erlkonig · Erlkönig · German

Erlkönig · rank #71,291 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #71,291
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH erlittene

Nearest frequency peer: erlittene (-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 „Erlkönig“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Erlkönig
PropertyValue
HeadwordErlkönig
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈɛʁlkøːnɪç]
Letters8
Frequency rank#71,291
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Erlkönig“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Erlkönigfällt 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: „erlittene“ (#71,290), „Ermittlerin“ (#71,292), „erfolgloser“ (#71,288). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „Erlkönig“ bei #71,291. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Erlkönig is uncommon German at frequency #71,291 among 4,632 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈɛʁlkøːnɪç]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for Erlkönig in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Erlkönig, spelled E-R-L-K-Ö-N-I-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    nicht recht fassbare Schauergestalt, Titel einer Ballade von Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1782) (vertont von Franz Schubert und Carl Loewe)
  2. 2
    getarnter Prototyp eines Fahrzeugs in der Erprobungsphase

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die Ballade Erlkönig schildert den Tod eines Kindes.
  2. Erlkönige der Autohersteller wecken immer die Neugier der Medien.

Synonyms

Prototyp

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 "Erlkönig"?
"Erlkönig" is spelled E-R-L-K-Ö-N-I-G. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈɛʁlkøːnɪç].
What does "Erlkönig" mean?
As a noun, "Erlkönig" means: nicht recht fassbare Schauergestalt, Titel einer Ballade von Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1782) (vertont von Franz Schubert und Carl Loewe)
How do you pronounce "Erlkönig"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Erlkönig" is [ˈɛʁlkøːnɪç]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Erlkönig" come from?
"Erlkönig" 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 "Erlkönig", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

erodiert#71,295entzweit#71,286fassende#71,319dichtete#71,226

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list