imitieren

[imiˈtiːʁən]

/[imiˈtiːʁən]/ verb

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

The verdict

“imitieren” has 12 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #28,255. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,255
frequency rank, German
1,488
“I” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - etwas nach dem Muster, Vorbild von etwas Anderem tun

Corpus desk

Index DE-imitieren · imitieren · German

imitieren · rank #28,255 · 12 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,255
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,488
  • PHOTO-FINISH Häupl

Nearest frequency peer: Häupl (-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 „imitieren“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „imitieren“ 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).

imitieren vs imitiert
78% similar
imitieren vs irritieren
80% similar
imitieren vs initiieren
80% similar

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

Key facts for imitieren
PropertyValue
Headwordimitieren
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[imiˈtiːʁən]
Letters9
Frequency rank#28,255
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „imitieren“

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Häupl“ (#28,254), „hässlicher“ (#28,253), „Indikation“ (#28,257). Unter 1,488 „I“-Lemmata liegt „imitieren“ bei #28,255. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around imitieren (IPA [imiˈtiːʁən]), averb. Corpus frequency is #28,255 among 1,488 “I” headwords. Dominant gloss: "etwas nach dem Muster, Vorbild von etwas Anderem tun".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for imitieren, with forms such as "iimtieren", "imiiteren", and "imiteiren". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "imitiert", "irritieren", "initiieren", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is imitieren, spelled I-M-I-T-I-E-R-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas nach dem Muster, Vorbild von etwas Anderem tun

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Du musst nicht alles imitieren, was dir gefällt.
  2. „Vor über 50 Jahren führte der amerikanische Chemiker Stanley Miller ein Experiment durch, um die Bedingungen auf der frühen Erde zu imitieren.“

Antonyms

ablehnenverwerfen

This word in other languages

copy(English)imitar(Español)imiter(Français)imitar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • iimtieren
  • imiiteren
  • imiteiren
  • imitieern
  • imitierenn
  • imitierne
  • imitierren
  • imitireen
  • imittieren
  • immitieren
  • imtiieren
  • miitieren

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

iimtieren2imiiteren2imiteiren2imitieern2imitierenn1imitierne2imitierren1imitireen2
Edit distance from "imitieren"

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 "imitieren"?
"imitieren" is spelled I-M-I-T-I-E-R-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [imiˈtiːʁən].
What does "imitieren" mean?
As a verb, "imitieren" means: etwas nach dem Muster, Vorbild von etwas Anderem tun
What words are commonly confused with "imitieren"?
"imitieren" is commonly confused with "imitiert", "irritieren", "initiieren". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "imitieren"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "imitieren" is [imiˈtiːʁən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "imitieren" come from?
"imitieren" 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 "imitieren", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hingehört#28,246Kellnerin#28,268Haarfarbe#28,233künftiger#28,283

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

gewohnte12 variantsgestörte12 variantsGeschütz12 variantsgeilsten12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list