Erz

[eːɐ̯t͡s]

/[eːɐ̯t͡s]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Erz” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #23,924) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#23,924
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - natürlich vorkommende metallhaltige Mineralien und Mineraliengemische, aus denen durch Verhüttung Metalle gewonnen werden

Corpus desk

Index DE-erz · Erz · German

Erz · rank #23,924 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,924
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH erwischte

Nearest frequency peer: erwischte (-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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „Erz“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „Erz“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Erz vs es
0% similar
Erz vs EU
33% similar
Erz vs Ex
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Erz
PropertyValue
HeadwordErz
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[eːɐ̯t͡s]
Letters3
Frequency rank#23,924
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „Erz“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Erzliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „erwischte“ (#23,923), „erreiche“ (#23,922), „externer“ (#23,926). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „Erz“ bei #23,924. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Erz is neighbouring look-alikes ("es", "EU", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [eːɐ̯t͡s]. Frequency #23,924 among 4,632 “E” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Erz, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "es", "EU", "Ex", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Erz, spelled E-R-Z.

Definition

  1. 1
    natürlich vorkommende metallhaltige Mineralien und Mineraliengemische, aus denen durch Verhüttung Metalle gewonnen werden
  2. 2
    in alten Schriften (zum Beispiel in Mythologien und der Bibel) verwendete Bezeichnung für metallartige Materialien, vermutlich schlecht geläuterte Metallmischungen mit hohem Kupferanteil; Bronze

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Erze glänzen oft metallisch.
  2. Diese Grube fördert schon viele Jahre kein Erz mehr.

This word in other languages

ore(English)mena(Español)minerai(Français)minério(Português)

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 "Erz"?
"Erz" is spelled E-R-Z. The IPA pronunciation is [eːɐ̯t͡s].
What does "Erz" mean?
As a noun, "Erz" means: natürlich vorkommende metallhaltige Mineralien und Mineraliengemische, aus denen durch Verhüttung Metalle gewonnen werden
What words are commonly confused with "Erz"?
"Erz" is commonly confused with "es", "EU", "Ex". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Erz"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Erz" is [eːɐ̯t͡s]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Erz" come from?
"Erz" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "Erz", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

DTM#23,895KIA#24,015ars#23,830oje#24,060

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list