Kirchlein

[ˈkɪʁçlaɪ̯n]

/[ˈkɪʁçlaɪ̯n]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Kirchlein” is uncommon German (frequency #70,456 among 4,158 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,456
frequency rank, German
4,158
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - kleine Kirche

Corpus desk

Index DE-kirchlein · Kirchlein · German

Kirchlein · rank #70,456 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,456
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,158
  • PHOTO-FINISH Kirchenleitung

Nearest frequency peer: Kirchenleitung (-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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Kirchlein“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Kirchlein“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Kirchlein
PropertyValue
HeadwordKirchlein
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈkɪʁçlaɪ̯n]
Letters9
Frequency rank#70,456
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Kirchlein“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Kirchleinfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Kirchenleitung“ (#70,455), „Kindermörder“ (#70,454), „Kiga“ (#70,453). Unter 4,158 „K“-Lemmata liegt „Kirchlein“ bei #70,456. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Kirchlein is uncommon German at frequency #70,456 among 4,158 “K” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈkɪʁçlaɪ̯n]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "kleine Kirche".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Kirchlein, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Kirchlein, spelled K-I-R-C-H-L-E-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    kleine Kirche

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Die Kirchlein stehen in ihrem bäuerlichen Barock ziemlich dürftig da.“
  2. „Die unzähligen Kirchlein sollten ein tröstliches Zeichen für die Überlebenden sein, dass Gott sie nicht verlassen hat.“

This word in other languages

petite église(Français)

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 "Kirchlein"?
"Kirchlein" is spelled K-I-R-C-H-L-E-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈkɪʁçlaɪ̯n].
What does "Kirchlein" mean?
As a noun, "Kirchlein" means: kleine Kirche
How do you pronounce "Kirchlein"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Kirchlein" is [ˈkɪʁçlaɪ̯n]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Kirchlein" come from?
"Kirchlein" 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 "Kirchlein", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Kiesgrube#70,452Kauffmann#70,447Kastilien#70,445Komikerin#70,472

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list