hail

[heɪl]

/[heɪl]/ noun

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

The verdict

“hail” is uncommon German (frequency #54,596 among 3,372 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,596
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - aus Eisklumpen bestehender Niederschlag, Hagel

Corpus desk

Index DE-hail · hail · German

hail · rank #54,596 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,596
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH gängig

Nearest frequency peer: gängig (-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 „hail“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for hail
PropertyValue
Headwordhail
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[heɪl]
Letters4
Frequency rank#54,596
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „hail“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).hailfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „gängig“ (#54,595), „gutmachen“ (#54,594), „Hauben“ (#54,599). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „hail“ bei #54,596. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hail is uncommon German at frequency #54,596 among 3,372 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [heɪl]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for hail in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is hail, spelled H-A-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    aus Eisklumpen bestehender Niederschlag, Hagel
  2. 2
    etwas, das mit der Wirkung eines Hagelschauers vergleichbar ist; ein Beschuss mit Gegenständen, Geräuschen oder Worten
  3. 3
    lauter Ausruf zur Begrüßung oder als Beifall; Zuruf um Aufmerksamkeit zu erregen
  4. 4
    Abstand, innerhalb dessen man Aufmerksamkeit erregen kann, Hörweite

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. "During the Middle Ages, people in Europe used to ring church bells and fire cannons to try to prevent hail, and the subsequent damage to crops."
  2. "Mysterious hails of stones have been reported from time to time in cases of witchcraft and possession."

Synonyms

iceprecipitationshowerstorm

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 "hail"?
"hail" is spelled H-A-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is [heɪl].
What does "hail" mean?
As a noun, "hail" means: aus Eisklumpen bestehender Niederschlag, Hagel
How do you pronounce "hail"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hail" is [heɪl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hail" come from?
"hail" 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 "hail", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

heiz#54,607joon#54,641gare#54,542Feta#54,518

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list