lieben

[ˈliːbn̩]

/[ˈliːbn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“lieben” has 8 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #1,163. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,163
frequency rank, German
2,640
“L” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - eine innige, gefühlsmäßige Zuneigung für jemanden oder etwas empfinden

Corpus desk

Index DE-lieben · lieben · German

lieben · rank #1,163 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,163
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,640
  • PHOTO-FINISH Leistung

Nearest frequency peer: Leistung (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „lieben“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „lieben“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

lieben vs liebt
67% similar
lieben vs loben
67% similar
lieben vs Ligen
50% similar

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

Key facts for lieben
PropertyValue
Headwordlieben
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈliːbn̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,163
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „lieben“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.liebenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Leistung“ (#1,162), „meint“ (#1,164), „Jungs“ (#1,161). Unter 2,640 „L“-Lemmata liegt „lieben“ bei #1,163. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around lieben (IPA [ˈliːbn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #1,163 among 2,640 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for lieben, with forms such as "ileben", "leiben", and "libeen". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "liebt", "loben", "Ligen", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is lieben, spelled L-I-E-B-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    eine innige, gefühlsmäßige Zuneigung für jemanden oder etwas empfinden
  2. 2
    Geschlechtsverkehr haben
  3. 3
    starke Zuneigung, Begierde zum Ausdruck bringen, aber ohne die Zielperson zu nennen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ich liebe dich.
  2. Sie lieben Nudeln, sie essen sie dreimal die Woche.

Synonyms

koitierenkopulierenLiebe machenauf Wolke sieben seinauf Wolke sieben schwebenverliebt

Antonyms

hassenverabscheuenabstinieren

This word in other languages

love(English)amar(Español)aimer(Français)amar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ileben
  • leiben
  • libeen
  • liebben
  • liebenn
  • liebne
  • lieebn
  • llieben

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lieben - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ileben2leiben2libeen2liebben1liebenn1liebne2lieebn2llieben1
Edit distance from "lieben"

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 "lieben"?
"lieben" is spelled L-I-E-B-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈliːbn̩].
What does "lieben" mean?
As a verb, "lieben" means: eine innige, gefühlsmäßige Zuneigung für jemanden oder etwas empfinden
What words are commonly confused with "lieben"?
"lieben" is commonly confused with "liebt", "loben", "Ligen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "lieben"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lieben" is [ˈliːbn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lieben" come from?
"lieben" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "lieben", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

meinte#1,165Montag#1,166Freude#1,157trifft#1,170

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Jungs8 variantsdaraus8 variantsstolz8 variantsSicht8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list