ertasten

[ɛɐ̯ˈtastn̩]

/[ɛɐ̯ˈtastn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“ertasten” is uncommon German (frequency #87,661 among 4,632 “E” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#87,661
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - mit den Fingern/Händen fühlend (tastend) etwas erfassen

Corpus desk

Index DE-ertasten · ertasten · German

ertasten · rank #87,661 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #87,661
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH ertappen

Nearest frequency peer: ertappen (-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 „ertasten“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ertasten
PropertyValue
Headwordertasten
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ɛɐ̯ˈtastn̩]
Letters8
Frequency rank#87,661
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „ertasten“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.ertastenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „ertappen“ (#87,660), „ertragreich“ (#87,662), „erzen“ (#87,663). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „ertasten“ bei #87,661. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ertasten is uncommon German at frequency #87,661 among 4,632 “E” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ɛɐ̯ˈtastn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "mit den Fingern/Händen fühlend (tastend) etwas erfassen".

No generated misspelling entries exist for ertasten in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is ertasten, spelled E-R-T-A-S-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    mit den Fingern/Händen fühlend (tastend) etwas erfassen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Versuchen Sie, Oberflächen und Strukturen zu unterscheiden, und ertasten Sie auch den Unterschied verschiedener Materialien.“
  2. „Unter dem Stoff ertastete der Amerikaner trockene, blättrige Haut und bröseliges Fleisch. Er hatte sich vorgenommen, an den Oberschenkelknochen der Mumie zu gelangen.“

Antonyms

sehen

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 "ertasten"?
"ertasten" is spelled E-R-T-A-S-T-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛɐ̯ˈtastn̩].
What does "ertasten" mean?
As a verb, "ertasten" means: mit den Fingern/Händen fühlend (tastend) etwas erfassen
How do you pronounce "ertasten"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ertasten" is [ɛɐ̯ˈtastn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ertasten" come from?
"ertasten" 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 "ertasten", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

ertappen#87,660estrella#87,666Exorzist#87,670exploits#87,672

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list