ISO

[iːsoː]

/[iːsoː]/ noun

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

The verdict

“ISO” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #8,887 in German word frequency and used as a noun.

#8,887
frequency rank, German
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Internationale Organisation für Normung (International Organization for Standardization); Vereinigung von Normungsorganisationen, die internationale Normen erarbeitet

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ISO vs IT
33% similar
ISO vs ix
0% similar
ISO vs ist
0% similar

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

Key facts for ISO
PropertyValue
HeadwordISO
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[iːsoː]
Letters3
Frequency rank#8,887
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ISO” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). ISO lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for ISO is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [iːsoː]. Corpus data places it at rank #8,887 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Internationale Organisation für Normung (International Organization for Standardization); Vereinigung von Normungsorganisationen, die internationale Normen erarbeitet".

ISO doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "IT", "ix", "ist", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is ISO, spelled I-S-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Internationale Organisation für Normung (International Organization for Standardization); Vereinigung von Normungsorganisationen, die internationale Normen erarbeitet

This word in other languages

ISO(English)

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 "ISO"?
"ISO" is spelled I-S-O. The IPA pronunciation is [iːsoː].
What does "ISO" mean?
As a noun, "ISO" means: Internationale Organisation für Normung (International Organization for Standardization); Vereinigung von Normungsorganisationen, die internationale Normen erarbeitet
What words are commonly confused with "ISO"?
"ISO" is commonly confused with "IT", "ix", "ist". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ISO"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ISO" is [iːsoː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ISO" come from?
"ISO" 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.

Using “ISO”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is I-S-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [iːsoː] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “IT” - see the side-by-side comparison. ISO vs IT
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list