Gevatter

[ɡəˈfatɐ]

/[ɡəˈfatɐ]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Gevatter” is uncommon German (frequency #82,821 among 5,117 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,821
frequency rank, German
5,117
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - geistiger Mitvater, Mitvater in geistlicher Verantwortung (Lehnübersetzung des lateinischen compater)

Corpus desk

Index DE-gevatter · Gevatter · German

Gevatter · rank #82,821 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,821
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,117
  • PHOTO-FINISH getätigte

Nearest frequency peer: getätigte (-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 „Gevatter“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Gevatter
PropertyValue
HeadwordGevatter
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ɡəˈfatɐ]
Letters8
Frequency rank#82,821
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Gevatter“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „getätigte“ (#82,820), „GETZ“ (#82,819), „gestickt“ (#82,818). Unter 5,117 „G“-Lemmata liegt „Gevatter“ bei #82,821. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Gevatter is uncommon German at frequency #82,821 among 5,117 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ɡəˈfatɐ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for Gevatter in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is Gevatter, spelled G-E-V-A-T-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    geistiger Mitvater, Mitvater in geistlicher Verantwortung (Lehnübersetzung des lateinischen compater)
  2. 2
    vertrauliche Anrede für einen Gleichgesinnten
  3. 3
    Taufpate
  4. 4
    Verwandter, Freund, Bekannter, Nachbar
  5. 5
    diverse übertragene Bedeutungen wie „Gevatter Tod“

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Es ist, als sei Gevatter Frost am Werk und die ganze Welt eine Fensterscheibe.“
  2. „So begehr ich dich nicht zu Gevatter“, sagte der Mann, „du gibst dem Reichen und lässest den Armen hungern.“

Synonyms

TaufpateOnkel

This word in other languages

Godfather(English)compadre(Español)compère(Français)

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 "Gevatter"?
"Gevatter" is spelled G-E-V-A-T-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ɡəˈfatɐ].
What does "Gevatter" mean?
As a noun, "Gevatter" means: geistiger Mitvater, Mitvater in geistlicher Verantwortung (Lehnübersetzung des lateinischen compater)
How do you pronounce "Gevatter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Gevatter" is [ɡəˈfatɐ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Gevatter" come from?
"Gevatter" 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 "Gevatter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

gestickt#82,818Gespanne#82,817graviert#82,835Geranien#82,800

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list