heel

[hiːl]

/[hiːl]/ noun

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

The verdict

“heel” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #48,960) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#48,960
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - der hintere Teil des Fußes unter dem Knöchel

Corpus desk

Index DE-heel · heel · German

heel · rank #48,960 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #48,960
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH hausgemachten

Nearest frequency peer: hausgemachten (-2 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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „heel“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „heel“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

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).

heel vs hl
50% similar
heel vs her
50% similar
heel vs hey
50% similar

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

Key facts for heel
PropertyValue
Headwordheel
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[hiːl]
Letters4
Frequency rank#48,960
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „heel“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.heelliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „hausgemachten“ (#48,958), „Hengste“ (#48,963), „harren“ (#48,956). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „heel“ bei #48,960. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for heel is neighbouring look-alikes ("hl", "her", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [hiːl]. Frequency #48,960 among 3,372 “H” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for heel, with forms such as "ehel", "heell", and "hheel". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hl", "her", "hey", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is heel, spelled H-E-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    der hintere Teil des Fußes unter dem Knöchel
  2. 2
    der diesen Teil umhüllende Teil einer Fußbekleidung
  3. 3
    der diesen Teil anhebende Teil einer Fußbekleidung
  4. 4
    der Teil der Handfläche am Handgelenk
  5. 5
    die hochhackigen Schuhe
  6. 6
    der hintere untere Teil, besonders der letzte Rest vom Brotlaib
  7. 7
    der unehrenwerte Mensch

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehel
  • heell
  • hheel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of heel - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ehel2heell1hheel1
Edit distance from "heel"

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 "heel"?
"heel" is spelled H-E-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is [hiːl].
What does "heel" mean?
As a noun, "heel" means: der hintere Teil des Fußes unter dem Knöchel
What words are commonly confused with "heel"?
"heel" is commonly confused with "hl", "her", "hey". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "heel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "heel" is [hiːl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "heel" come from?
"heel" 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 "heel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

kola#49,017Fock#48,895Lees#49,048Esra#48,863

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list