Harpune

[haʁˈpuːnə]

/[haʁˈpuːnə]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Harpune” is uncommon German (frequency #95,691 among 3,372 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#95,691
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Speer mit Widerhaken für den Fischfang oder Walfang

Corpus desk

Index DE-harpune · Harpune · German

Harpune · rank #95,691 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #95,691
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH harmonisieren

Nearest frequency peer: harmonisieren (-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 „Harpune“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Harpune
PropertyValue
HeadwordHarpune
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[haʁˈpuːnə]
Letters7
Frequency rank#95,691
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Harpune“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Harpunefällt 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: „harmonisieren“ (#95,690), „hauchdünnen“ (#95,692), „Hauptarbeit“ (#95,693). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „Harpune“ bei #95,691. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Harpune is uncommon German at frequency #95,691 among 3,372 “H” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [haʁˈpuːnə]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Speer mit Widerhaken für den Fischfang oder Walfang".

Harpune doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is Harpune, spelled H-A-R-P-U-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Speer mit Widerhaken für den Fischfang oder Walfang

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Wie die Umweltschutzorganisation mitteilte, feuerte ein Walfänger beim Schuss auf einen Zwergwal eine Harpune nur einen Meter über ein Greenpeace-Schlauchboot.“
  2. „Besser wäre es natürlich, die Harpune mitzunehmen, einen Riesenfisch zu harpunieren und ihn an Land zu ziehen.“

This word in other languages

harpoon(English)arpón(Español)harpon(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 "Harpune"?
"Harpune" is spelled H-A-R-P-U-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is [haʁˈpuːnə].
What does "Harpune" mean?
As a noun, "Harpune" means: Speer mit Widerhaken für den Fischfang oder Walfang
How do you pronounce "Harpune"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Harpune" is [haʁˈpuːnə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Harpune" come from?
"Harpune" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Harpune", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

grooves#95,673Hernals#95,710Grazien#95,670gotisch#95,665

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list