Italian

[ɪˈtæliən]

/[ɪˈtæliən]/ noun

The verdict

“Italian” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #47,503 in German word frequency and used as a noun.

#47,503
frequency rank, German
7
letters
9
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - die Sprache Italienisch

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

Italian vs Italiens
75% similar
Italian vs Italia
86% similar

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

Key facts for Italian
PropertyValue
HeadwordItalian
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ɪˈtæliən]
Letters7
Frequency rank#47,503
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Italian” 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). Italian 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 Italian is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ɪˈtæliən]. Corpus data places it at rank #47,503 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "die Sprache Italienisch".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Italian, with forms such as "iatlian", "itailan", and "italain". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Italiens", "Italia", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is Italian, spelled I-T-A-L-I-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    die Sprache Italienisch

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: iatlian,itailan,italain,italiann,italina,itallian,itlaian,ittalian,tialian

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Italian - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

iatlian2itailan2italain2italiann1italina2itallian1itlaian2ittalian1
Edit distance from "Italian"

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 "Italian"?
"Italian" is spelled I-T-A-L-I-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ɪˈtæliən].
What does "Italian" mean?
As a noun, "Italian" means: die Sprache Italienisch
What words are commonly confused with "Italian"?
"Italian" is commonly confused with "Italiens", "Italia". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Italian"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Italian" is [ɪˈtæliən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Italian" come from?
"Italian" 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 “Italian”

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

  • The one correct German spelling is I-T-A-L-I-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ɪˈtæliən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Italiens” - see the side-by-side comparison. Italian vs Italiens
  • 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