herum

[hɛˈʁʊm]

/[hɛˈʁʊm]/ adv

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

The verdict

“herum” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #1,663. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,663
frequency rank, German
3,372
“H” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - räumlich: in einem Bogen mit etwas Abstand vom Genannten um dies liegend oder führend

Corpus desk

Index DE-herum · herum · German

herum · rank #1,663 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,663
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,372
  • PHOTO-FINISH Gewissen

Nearest frequency peer: Gewissen (-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 „herum“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „herum“ 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).

herum vs Heu
40% similar
herum vs hum
60% similar
herum vs Herz
40% similar

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

Key facts for herum
PropertyValue
Headwordherum
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdverb
IPA[hɛˈʁʊm]
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,663
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „herum“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).herumliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Gewissen“ (#1,662), „höher“ (#1,664), „Freunden“ (#1,661). Unter 3,372 „H“-Lemmata liegt „herum“ bei #1,663. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around herum (IPA [hɛˈʁʊm]), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #1,663 among 3,372 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for herum, with forms such as "ehrum", "hermu", and "herrum". 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, "Heu", "hum", "Herz", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

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 herum, spelled H-E-R-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    räumlich: in einem Bogen mit etwas Abstand vom Genannten um dies liegend oder führend
  2. 2
    umgangssprachlich, zeitlich: nach Ablauf einer bekannten Frist
  3. 3
    umgangssprachlich, Circa-Angabe: ungefähr zu einem Zeitpunkt oder zu einer Größenangabe

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Der Weg verläuft um den Teich herum und dann über die Brücke dort.
  2. Die Zelte sind um das Lagerfeuer herum errichtet.

This word in other languages

about(English)en torno a(Español)autour(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehrum
  • hermu
  • herrum
  • herumm
  • heurm
  • hherum
  • hreum

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of herum - 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.

ehrum2hermu2herrum1herumm1heurm2hherum1hreum2
Edit distance from "herum"

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 "herum"?
"herum" is spelled H-E-R-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is [hɛˈʁʊm].
What does "herum" mean?
As an adverb, "herum" means: räumlich: in einem Bogen mit etwas Abstand vom Genannten um dies liegend oder führend
What words are commonly confused with "herum"?
"herum" is commonly confused with "Heu", "hum", "Herz". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "herum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "herum" is [hɛˈʁʊm]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "herum" come from?
"herum" 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 "herum", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

höher#1,664Fahrt#1,660Juden#1,667Brief#1,657

Similar misspelling depth

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

nehme7 variantsWerte7 variantsTraum7 variantsbekam7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list