Harfe

[ˈhaʁfə]

/[ˈhaʁfə]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Harfe” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #25,585. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,585
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - sehr altes Saiten- und Zupfinstrument, bei dem die Saiten in einem großen dreieckigen Rahmen angebracht sind, der selbst als Resonanzkörper dient

Corpus desk

Index DE-harfe · Harfe · German

Harfe · rank #25,585 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,585
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH Handschlag

Nearest frequency peer: Handschlag (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Harfe“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Harfe“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

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).

Harfe vs hart
40% similar
Harfe vs höre
40% similar
Harfe vs have
40% similar

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

Key facts for Harfe
PropertyValue
HeadwordHarfe
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈhaʁfə]
Letters5
Frequency rank#25,585
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Harfe“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Harfeliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Handschlag“ (#25,584), „Hausarrest“ (#25,586), „Halsband“ (#25,583). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „Harfe“ bei #25,585. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around Harfe (IPA [ˈhaʁfə]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,585 among 3,372 “H” headwords. Dominant gloss: "sehr altes Saiten- und Zupfinstrument, bei dem die Saiten in einem großen dreieckigen Rahmen angebracht sind, der selbst als Resonanzkörper dient".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Harfe, with forms such as "ahrfe", "hafre", and "haref". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hart", "höre", "have", 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 its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is Harfe, spelled H-A-R-F-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    sehr altes Saiten- und Zupfinstrument, bei dem die Saiten in einem großen dreieckigen Rahmen angebracht sind, der selbst als Resonanzkörper dient

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die Harfe ist eines der ältesten Musikinstrumente der Menschheit und kann bereits um etwa 3000 v. Chr. in Mesopotamien und Ägypten nachgewiesen werden.
  2. „Für Unterhaltung bei den Gastmählern sorgten vor allem die Barden (…): Dichter und Sänger, die ihre Heldengesänge meist in Begleitung einer Harfe vortrugen.“

This word in other languages

harp(English)arpa(Español)harpe(Français)harpa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ahrfe
  • hafre
  • haref
  • harffe
  • harrfe
  • hharfe
  • hrafe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Harfe - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ahrfe2hafre2haref2harffe1harrfe1hharfe1hrafe2
Edit distance from "Harfe"

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 "Harfe"?
"Harfe" is spelled H-A-R-F-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈhaʁfə].
What does "Harfe" mean?
As a noun, "Harfe" means: sehr altes Saiten- und Zupfinstrument, bei dem die Saiten in einem großen dreieckigen Rahmen angebracht sind, der selbst als Resonanzkörper dient
What words are commonly confused with "Harfe"?
"Harfe" is commonly confused with "hart", "höre", "have". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Harfe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Harfe" is [ˈhaʁfə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Harfe" come from?
"Harfe" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "Harfe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Haven#25,587flieg#25,550Kunze#25,635leave#25,643

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Idylle7 variantsleiht7 variantsLeRoy7 variantsModem7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list