erweichen

[ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯çn̩]

/[ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯çn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“erweichen” is uncommon German (frequency #67,183 among 4,632 “E” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,183
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - in der Konsistenz formbarer (weicher) machen

Corpus desk

Index DE-erweichen · erweichen · German

erweichen · rank #67,183 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #67,183
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH eruieren

Nearest frequency peer: eruieren (-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 „erweichen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for erweichen
PropertyValue
Headworderweichen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯çn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#67,183
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „erweichen“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „eruieren“ (#67,182), „ersticht“ (#67,181), „erschreckte“ (#67,180). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „erweichen“ bei #67,183. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

erweichen is uncommon German at frequency #67,183 among 4,632 “E” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯çn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

erweichen doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is erweichen, spelled E-R-W-E-I-C-H-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    in der Konsistenz formbarer (weicher) machen
  2. 2
    in der Einstellung freundlicher, geneigter stimmen, so dass Widerstand aufgegeben wird
  3. 3
    in der Konsistenz formbarer (weicher) werden
  4. 4
    in der Einstellung freundlicher, geneigter werden, sogar seinen Widerstand aufgeben

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Ein solches Stück erweicht man in der Mitte unter fortwährendem Drehen in der Gebläseflamme; wenn das Glas ganz weich geworden ist, nimmt man es aus der Flamme und zieht es sofort aus.“
  2. „Und ein Blick in deine Augen, Alles zu verzeihen reicht, Nicht die Logik deiner Worte, Nur dein Blick hat mich erweicht!“

Antonyms

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 "erweichen"?
"erweichen" is spelled E-R-W-E-I-C-H-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯çn̩].
What does "erweichen" mean?
As a verb, "erweichen" means: in der Konsistenz formbarer (weicher) machen
How do you pronounce "erweichen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "erweichen" is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯çn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "erweichen" come from?
"erweichen" 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 "erweichen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list