Iglu

[ˈiːɡlu]

/[ˈiːɡlu]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Iglu” is uncommon German (frequency #69,374 among 1,488 “I” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,374
frequency rank, German
1,488
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Schneehütte

Corpus desk

Index DE-iglu · Iglu · German

Iglu · rank #69,374 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #69,374
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,488
  • PHOTO-FINISH Höchstleistung

Nearest frequency peer: Höchstleistung (-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 „Iglu“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Iglu
PropertyValue
HeadwordIglu
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈiːɡlu]
Letters4
Frequency rank#69,374
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Iglu“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Iglufällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Höchstleistung“ (#69,373), „Hunderassen“ (#69,372), „humans“ (#69,371). Unter 1,488 „I“-Lemmata liegt „Iglu“ bei #69,374. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Iglu is uncommon German at frequency #69,374 among 1,488 “I” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈiːɡlu]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Iglu, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

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 Iglu, spelled I-G-L-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Schneehütte
  2. 2
    aus Schneeblöcken errichtetes halbkugelförmiges Haus der Eskimos
  3. 3
    in Nordkanada: Winterwohnung, Reiseunterkunft, Jagdunterkunft

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Das Iglu hat riesige Vorteile gegenüber der Zeltunterkunft.
  2. Schon seit 4000 Jahren beherrschen die Eskimos die Kunst, einen Iglu zu bauen.

Synonyms

SchneehütteSchneehaus

This word in other languages

igloo(English)iglú(Español)igloo(Français)iglu(Português)

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

Same letter count

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

Kais#69,399kall#69,401Harn#69,331Görz#69,314

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list