Lateral

[latəˈʁaːl]

/[latəˈʁaːl]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Lateral” is uncommon German (frequency #80,612 among 2,640 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#80,612
frequency rank, German
2,640
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Konsonant (Mitlaut), der durch den seitlich an der Zunge vorbeiströmenden Artikulationsstrom erzeugt wird

Corpus desk

Index DE-lateral · Lateral · German

Lateral · rank #80,612 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #80,612
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,640
  • PHOTO-FINISH lauwarmen

Nearest frequency peer: lauwarmen (+2 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 „Lateral“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Lateral
PropertyValue
HeadwordLateral
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[latəˈʁaːl]
Letters7
Frequency rank#80,612
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Lateral“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Lateralfällt 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: „lauwarmen“ (#80,614), „Kühltruhe“ (#80,607), „Lebenselixier“ (#80,617). Unter 2,640 „L“-Lemmata liegt „Lateral“ bei #80,612. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Lateral is uncommon German at frequency #80,612 among 2,640 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [latəˈʁaːl]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for Lateral in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Lateral, spelled L-A-T-E-R-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Konsonant (Mitlaut), der durch den seitlich an der Zunge vorbeiströmenden Artikulationsstrom erzeugt wird
  2. 2
    ein scheinbar paradoxes Rätsel, das durch Ja-Nein-Fragen gelöst werden kann

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Das „l" ist ein Lateral.
  2. „Sie bietet dem Leser einen Einblick in den Erwerb einzelner deutscher Plosive, Frikative, Laterale, Glides, Nasale und Konsonantenverbindungen, die zum Teil über den Rahmen dieser Arbeit hinausgehen.“

Synonyms

LateralengelautLaterallautSeitenlautJa-Nein-Rätsel

Antonyms

Vibrant

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 "Lateral"?
"Lateral" is spelled L-A-T-E-R-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is [latəˈʁaːl].
What does "Lateral" mean?
As a noun, "Lateral" means: Konsonant (Mitlaut), der durch den seitlich an der Zunge vorbeiströmenden Artikulationsstrom erzeugt wird
How do you pronounce "Lateral"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Lateral" is [latəˈʁaːl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Lateral" come from?
"Lateral" 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 "Lateral", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lenkten#80,621Matador#80,656Kierspe#80,561Motoröl#80,697

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list