erwählen

[ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːlən]

/[ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːlən]/ verb

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

The verdict

“erwählen” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - sich jemanden oder etwas aus einem breiteren Angebot aussuchen, weil es den Neigungen, dem Geschmack oder den Gefühlen entspricht

Corpus desk

Index DE-erwahlen · erwählen · German

erwählen · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "E" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for erwählen
PropertyValue
Headworderwählen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːlən]
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “erwählen” sits in German frequency

erwählen falls outside the top-100,000 ranked German words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

erwählen is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːlən]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for erwählen in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is erwählen, spelled E-R-W-Ä-H-L-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    sich jemanden oder etwas aus einem breiteren Angebot aussuchen, weil es den Neigungen, dem Geschmack oder den Gefühlen entspricht
  2. 2
    jemanden oder etwas aus einem breiteren Angebot mittels einer Abstimmung (Wahl) bestimmen

Antonyms

ablehnen

This word in other languages

elect(English)choisir(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "erwählen"?
"erwählen" is spelled E-R-W-Ä-H-L-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːlən].
What does "erwählen" mean?
As a verb, "erwählen" means: sich jemanden oder etwas aus einem breiteren Angebot aussuchen, weil es den Neigungen, dem Geschmack oder den Gefühlen entspricht
How do you pronounce "erwählen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "erwählen" is [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːlən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "erwählen" come from?
"erwählen" 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.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list