Esel
[ˈeːzl̩]
The verdict
“Esel” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #8,358 in German word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,358
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - zur Gattung der Pferde gehörendes (männliches) Huftier, das ein (je nach Art / Unterart) graues bis braunes, fahlgelbes bis ockerfarbenes oder rötliches bis rotbraunes Fell mit dunklem Aalstrich, e...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Esel |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈeːzl̩] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #8,358 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Esel” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Esel is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈeːzl̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #8,358 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for Esel, with forms such as "eesl", "esell", and "esle". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "est", "eye", "ESS", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
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 Esel, spelled E-S-E-L.
Definition
- 1zur Gattung der Pferde gehörendes (männliches) Huftier, das ein (je nach Art / Unterart) graues bis braunes, fahlgelbes bis ockerfarbenes oder rötliches bis rotbraunes Fell mit dunklem Aalstrich, eine kurze, aufrecht stehende Nackenmähne, lange Ohren und einen Quastenschwanz besitzt und dessen domestizierte Vertreter als Nutz-, Last- und Reittier dienen (Asinus)
- 2jemand, der dumm, einfältig, unbeholfen, ungeschickt sowie, mitunter, störrisch ist oder ähnliche für das unter [1] beschriebene Tier typisch geltende Eigenschaften besitzt; jemand, der (aus Unvermögen, Menschen oder Umstände richtig einzuschätzen), töricht handelt
- 3schlechtester Schüler einer Klasse
- 4durch das Treten von Pedalen angetriebenes Fahrzeug mit zwei in einer Spur hintereinander angebrachten Rädern
- 5durch einen Motor angetriebenes Fahrzeug mit zwei in einer Spur hintereinander angebrachten Rädern; zweirädriges Kraftfahrzeug
- 6Gebäude oder Anstalt, in dem Personen, die vom Gericht zu einer unbedingten Haftstrafe verurteilt wurden, unter Verschluss gehalten werden; Ort des Arrests, Ort der Haft
- 7der Bestrafung (besonders beim Militär und in Schulen) dienendes nach oben hin spitzwinklig zulaufendes Gestell (in Form eines stilisierten Eselsrückens), auf das sich die zu Strafenden setzen mussten
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eesl,esell,esle,essel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Esel - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "Esel"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Esel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is E-S-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈeːzl̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “est” - see the side-by-side comparison. Esel vs est
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
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.