Laus

[laʊ̯s]

/[laʊ̯s]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Laus” is uncommon German (frequency #51,506 among 2,640 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,506
frequency rank, German
2,640
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - unspezifisches, kleines, parasitäres Insekt

Corpus desk

Index DE-laus · Laus · German

Laus · rank #51,506 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,506
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,640
  • PHOTO-FINISH Lebensaufgabe

Nearest frequency peer: Lebensaufgabe (+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 „Laus“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Laus
PropertyValue
HeadwordLaus
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[laʊ̯s]
Letters4
Frequency rank#51,506
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Laus“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Lebensaufgabe“ (#51,507), „landschaftlichen“ (#51,504), „Lebenslage“ (#51,508). Unter 2,640 „L“-Lemmata liegt „Laus“ bei #51,506. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Laus is uncommon German at frequency #51,506 among 2,640 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [laʊ̯s]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "unspezifisches, kleines, parasitäres Insekt".

Zero misspellings are on record for Laus in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is Laus, spelled L-A-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    unspezifisches, kleines, parasitäres Insekt

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sein Kopf ist voller Läuse.
  2. Diese Pflanze hat Läuse.

This word in other languages

louse(English)piojo(Español)pou(Français)piolho(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 "Laus"?
"Laus" is spelled L-A-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is [laʊ̯s].
What does "Laus" mean?
As a noun, "Laus" means: unspezifisches, kleines, parasitäres Insekt
How do you pronounce "Laus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Laus" is [laʊ̯s]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Laus" come from?
"Laus" 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 "Laus", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

maar#51,515mair#51,518Konz#51,474keen#51,453

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list