fl

abbrev

The verdict

“fl” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #13,360) as an abbreviation. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#13,360
frequency rank, German
3,474
“F” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Femtoliter (= 10⁻¹⁵ l, ein billiardstel Liter)

Corpus desk

Index DE-fl · fl · German

fl · rank #13,360 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,360
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,474
  • PHOTO-FINISH Feiertagen

Nearest frequency peer: Feiertagen (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “fl”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “fl” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

fl vs FW
0% similar
fl vs fm
50% similar
fl vs FS
0% similar

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

Key facts for fl
PropertyValue
Headwordfl
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAbbreviation
Letters2
Frequency rank#13,360
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “fl” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).flliegt hier:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Feiertagen“ (#13,359), „Fukushima“ (#13,361), „Fauna“ (#13,358). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for fl is neighbouring look-alikes ("FW", "fm", …), not just typos; it is anabbreviation. Frequency #13,360 among 3,474 “F” headwords. Gloss: "Femtoliter (= 10⁻¹⁵ l, ein billiardstel Liter)".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for fl, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "FW", "fm", "FS", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is fl, spelled F-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Femtoliter (= 10⁻¹⁵ l, ein billiardstel Liter)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ein Würfel mit einer Kantenlänge von einem Mikrometer (µm) hat ein Volumen von einem Femtoliter (fl).
  2. In der Hämatologie werden die Kenngrößen MCV und MPV mit der SI-Einheit fl bezeichnet.

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 "fl"?
"fl" is spelled F-L.
What does "fl" mean?
As an abbreviation, "fl" means: Femtoliter (= 10⁻¹⁵ l, ein billiardstel Liter)
What words are commonly confused with "fl"?
"fl" is commonly confused with "FW", "fm", "FS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "fl" come from?
"fl" 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.

What to do next

You've looked up "fl". Here's where to go from here.

  • "fl" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "FW". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #13,360 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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