greifen

/[ˈɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]/ verb

Letters

7 characters

Frequency Rank

#2,895

in German word usage

Misspellings

10

tracked variants

Confusables

13

similar word pairs

greifen is aGermanverb. It means: etwas mit der Hand nehmen Pronounced [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]. It ranks #2,895 in German word frequency. Often confused with greift and Greven.

Key facts for greifen
PropertyValue
Headwordgreifen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]
Letters7
Frequency rank#2,895
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for greifen is 7 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #2,895 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 Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 10 documented wrong-spelling variants for greifen, with forms such as "gerifen", "ggreifen", and "grefien". 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 13 confusable-pair relationships, "greift", "Greven", "Grenzen", 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 greifen, spelled G-R-E-I-F-E-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas mit der Hand nehmen
  2. 2
    jemanden fassen, gefangen nehmen
  3. 3
    die Hand nach jemandem/etwas ausstrecken, um ihn/es zu berühren, zu ergreifen
  4. 4
    zum Klingen bringen
  5. 5
    das gewünschte Resultat zeigen
  6. 6
    fest aufliegen, einrasten, genügend Reibungswiderstand haben
  7. 7
    einen Schätzwert abgeben

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: gerifen,ggreifen,grefien,greiefn,greifenn,greiffen,greifne,griefen,grreifen,rgeifen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for greifen

Misspelling Variants of "greifen"

gerifen7ggreifen8grefien7greiefn7greifenn8greiffen8greifne7griefen7
Misspelling Variants of "greifen"

Frequency rank: #2,895 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "greifen"?
"greifen" is spelled G-R-E-I-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fn̩].
What does "greifen" mean?
As a verb, "greifen" means: etwas mit der Hand nehmen
What words are commonly confused with "greifen"?
"greifen" is commonly confused with "greift", "Greven", "Grenzen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "greifen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "greifen" is [ˈɡʁaɪ̯fn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "greifen" come from?
"greifen" 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 G 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.