father

/[ˈfɑːðə(ɹ)]/ noun

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#34,650

in German word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

father is aGermannoun. It means: männlicher Elternteil; Vater Pronounced [ˈfɑːðə(ɹ)]. Often confused with früher and Futter.

Key facts for father
PropertyValue
Headwordfather
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈfɑːðə(ɹ)]
Letters6
Frequency rank#34,650
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of father in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for father is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈfɑːðə(ɹ)]. Corpus data places it at rank #34,650 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for father, with forms such as "afther", "fahter", and "fatehr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "früher", "Futter", "fetter", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is father, spelled F-A-T-H-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    männlicher Elternteil; Vater
  2. 2
    christlicher Geistlicher, Priester
  3. 3
    Anrede für einen älteren Mann

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: afther,fahter,fatehr,fatherr,fathher,fathre,fatther,ffather,ftaher

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for father

Misspelling Variants of "father"

afther6fahter6fatehr6fatherr7fathher7fathre6fatther7ffather7
Misspelling Variants of "father"

Frequency rank: #34,650 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "father"?
"father" is spelled F-A-T-H-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈfɑːðə(ɹ)].
What does "father" mean?
As a noun, "father" means: männlicher Elternteil; Vater
What words are commonly confused with "father"?
"father" is commonly confused with "früher", "Futter", "fetter". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "father"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "father" is [ˈfɑːðə(ɹ)]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "father" come from?
"father" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter F in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.