Kai

Name: Kai, German Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

[kaɪ̯]

/[kaɪ̯]/ noun

By PlainSpell Editorial Team · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“Kai” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #5,859 in German word frequency and used as a noun.

#5,859
frequency rank, German: 3
letters: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - befestigtes Ufer in einem Hafen als Schiffsanlegeplatz

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

Kai vs km

0% similar

Kai vs kg

0% similar

Kai vs KW

33% similar

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

Key facts for Kai
Property	Value
Headword	Kai
Language	German
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	[kaɪ̯]
Letters	3
Frequency rank	#5,859
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Kai” 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). Kai lands here:

#5,859

#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 Kai is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [kaɪ̯]. Corpus data places it at rank #5,859 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "befestigtes Ufer in einem Hafen als Schiffsanlegeplatz".

No generated misspelling entries exist for Kai in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "km", "kg", "KW", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is Kai, spelled K-A-I.

Definition

1
befestigtes Ufer in einem Hafen als Schiffsanlegeplatz

Synonyms

Anlegestelle Bootssteg Mole Uferpromenade

Antonyms

Pier Reede

This word in other languages

quay(English)muelle(Español)quai(Français)cais(Português)

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 "Kai"?

"Kai" is spelled K-A-I. The IPA pronunciation is [kaɪ̯].

What does "Kai" mean?

As a noun, "Kai" means: befestigtes Ufer in einem Hafen als Schiffsanlegeplatz

What words are commonly confused with "Kai"?

"Kai" is commonly confused with "km", "kg", "KW". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "Kai"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Kai" is [kaɪ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What language does "Kai" come from?

"Kai" 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.

Using “Kai”

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

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