investigate

[…]

/[…]/ verb

The verdict

“investigate” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (in einem Kriminalfall) ermitteln

Corpus desk

Index DE-investigate · investigate · German

investigate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for investigate
PropertyValue
Headwordinvestigate
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[…]
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „investigate“ im Deutschen

investigatesitzt jenseits der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Formen, im Schwanz spezialisierten oder seltenen Wortschatzes.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

investigate is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed […]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for investigate, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is investigate, spelled I-N-V-E-S-T-I-G-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    (in einem Kriminalfall) ermitteln
  2. 2
    etwas erforschen, erkunden, untersuchen
  3. 3
    recherchieren, nachforschen

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. "Then Justa's brother, Norris, who'd gone to investigate, took the law into his own fists-and landed in a Monterrey jail for punching a Mexican police captain."

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "investigate"?
"investigate" is spelled I-N-V-E-S-T-I-G-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is […].
What does "investigate" mean?
As a verb, "investigate" means: (in einem Kriminalfall) ermitteln
How do you pronounce "investigate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "investigate" is […]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "investigate" come from?
"investigate" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list