Irrtum

[ˈɪʁtuːm]

/[ˈɪʁtuːm]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Irrtum” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #9,049. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,049
frequency rank, German
1,488
“I” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - unabsichtlich falsche Annahme

Corpus desk

Index DE-irrtum · Irrtum · German

Irrtum · rank #9,049 · 7 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,049
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,488
  • PHOTO-FINISH IC

Nearest frequency peer: IC (-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 „Irrtum“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „Irrtum“ 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).

Irrtum vs Irrtümer
63% similar
Irrtum vs irrt
50% similar
Irrtum vs irrte
50% similar

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

Key facts for Irrtum
PropertyValue
HeadwordIrrtum
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈɪʁtuːm]
Letters6
Frequency rank#9,049
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Irrtum“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Irrtumliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „IC“ (#9,048), „isoliert“ (#9,050), „Hülle“ (#9,047). Unter 1,488 „I“-Lemmata liegt „Irrtum“ bei #9,049. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around Irrtum (IPA [ˈɪʁtuːm]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,049 among 1,488 “I” headwords. Dominant gloss: "unabsichtlich falsche Annahme".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Irrtum, with forms such as "irrtmu", "irrttum", and "irrtumm". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Irrtümer", "irrt", "irrte", 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 Irrtum, spelled I-R-R-T-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    unabsichtlich falsche Annahme

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Es war ein Irrtum zu denken, dass hier schon ein Beispiel steht.
  2. „Jedenfalls mag ich es, wenn sich kurz oder lange in mir aufbewahrte Irrtümer in nichts als Wohlgefallen auflösen.“

This word in other languages

error(English)aberración(Español)erreur(Français)erro(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • irrtmu
  • irrttum
  • irrtumm
  • irrutm
  • irtrum
  • irtum
  • rirtum

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

irrtmu2irrttum1irrtumm1irrutm2irtrum2irtum1rirtum2
Edit distance from "Irrtum"

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 "Irrtum"?
"Irrtum" is spelled I-R-R-T-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈɪʁtuːm].
What does "Irrtum" mean?
As a noun, "Irrtum" means: unabsichtlich falsche Annahme
What words are commonly confused with "Irrtum"?
"Irrtum" is commonly confused with "Irrtümer", "irrt", "irrte". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Irrtum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Irrtum" is [ˈɪʁtuːm]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Irrtum" come from?
"Irrtum" 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 "Irrtum", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Heulen#9,046Kläger#9,052madame#9,060Glocke#9,036

Similar misspelling depth

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

hetze7 variantsgeübt7 variantsRates7 variantserkenne7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list