Lauf

/[laʊ̯f]/ noun

Letters

4 characters

Frequency Rank

#1,737

in German word usage

Misspellings

5

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

Lauf is aGermannoun. It means: schnelle Fortbewegung zu Fuß, bei der kurzzeitig kein Bodenkontakt besteht Pronounced [laʊ̯f]. It ranks #1,737 in German word frequency. Often confused with Lu and law.

Key facts for Lauf
PropertyValue
HeadwordLauf
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[laʊ̯f]
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,737
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Lauf in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for Lauf is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [laʊ̯f]. Corpus data places it at rank #1,737 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for Lauf, with forms such as "aluf", "lafu", and "lauff". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Lu", "law", "lud", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

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. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is Lauf, spelled L-A-U-F, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    schnelle Fortbewegung zu Fuß, bei der kurzzeitig kein Bodenkontakt besteht
  2. 2
    sportlicher Wettkampf, bei dem die Teilnehmer eine bestimmte Strecke laufen
  3. 3
    zeitliche Abfolge von Ereignissen
  4. 4
    schnelle Abfolge von Tönen
  5. 5
    Glückssträhne im Spiel
  6. 6
    Weg eines fließenden Gewässers
  7. 7
    Bein des Haarwildes
  8. 8
    Rohr einer Handfeuerwaffe
  9. 9
    kontinuierliche Bewegung einer Maschine
  10. 10
    die automatisierte Abarbeitung bestimmter (wirtschaftlicher) Prozesse in einer Massenverarbeitung

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aluf,lafu,lauff,llauf,luaf

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Lauf

Misspelling Variants of "Lauf"

aluf4lafu4lauff5llauf5luaf4
Misspelling Variants of "Lauf"

Frequency rank: #1,737 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Lauf"?
"Lauf" is spelled L-A-U-F. The IPA pronunciation is [laʊ̯f].
What does "Lauf" mean?
As a noun, "Lauf" means: schnelle Fortbewegung zu Fuß, bei der kurzzeitig kein Bodenkontakt besteht
What words are commonly confused with "Lauf"?
"Lauf" is commonly confused with "Lu", "law", "lud". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Lauf"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Lauf" is [laʊ̯f]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Lauf" come from?
"Lauf" 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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter L in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.