lieutenant

[lɛfˈtɛnənt]

/[lɛfˈtɛnənt]/ noun

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

The verdict

“lieutenant” has 14 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #14,122. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,122
frequency rank, German
2,640
“L” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - der Dienstgrad zwischen captain (Hauptmann) und second lieutenant (Unterleutnant); in den USA wird es auch first lieutenant genannt; der Leutnant, der Oberleutnant

Corpus desk

Index DE-lieutenant · lieutenant · German

lieutenant · rank #14,122 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #14,122
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,640
  • PHOTO-FINISH letzteren

Nearest frequency peer: letzteren (-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 „lieutenant“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „lieutenant“ 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).

lieutenant vs Leutnant
70% similar

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

Key facts for lieutenant
PropertyValue
Headwordlieutenant
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[lɛfˈtɛnənt]
Letters10
Frequency rank#14,122
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „lieutenant“

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

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „letzteren“ (#14,121), „lehr“ (#14,120), „Lausanne“ (#14,119). Unter 2,640 „L“-Lemmata liegt „lieutenant“ bei #14,122. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around lieutenant (IPA [lɛfˈtɛnənt]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,122 among 2,640 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for lieutenant, with forms such as "ileutenant", "leiutenant", and "lietuenant". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Leutnant", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

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. The correct German form is lieutenant, spelled L-I-E-U-T-E-N-A-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    der Dienstgrad zwischen captain (Hauptmann) und second lieutenant (Unterleutnant); in den USA wird es auch first lieutenant genannt; der Leutnant, der Oberleutnant
  2. 2
    (inkorrekt in Britisch) kurz für second lieutenant, der Leutnant, der Unterleutnant
  3. 3
    Marine:, der Dienstgrad zwischen lieutenant commander und sub-lieutenant; der Kapitänleutnant
  4. 4
    der Polizeihauptwachtmeister, die Polizeihauptwachtmeisterin, der Polizeioberinspektor, die Polizeioberinspektorin

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He was a lieutenant in the Prussian army.
  2. The lieutenant addressed the sailors.

Synonyms

first lieutenantsecond lieutenant

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ileutenant
  • leiutenant
  • lietuenant
  • lieuetnant
  • lieuteannt
  • lieutenannt
  • lieutenantt
  • lieutenatn
  • lieutennant
  • lieutennat
  • lieutneant
  • lieuttenant
  • liuetenant
  • llieutenant

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lieutenant - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ileutenant2leiutenant2lietuenant2lieuetnant2lieuteannt2lieutenannt1lieutenantt1lieutenatn2
Edit distance from "lieutenant"

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 "lieutenant"?
"lieutenant" is spelled L-I-E-U-T-E-N-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is [lɛfˈtɛnənt].
What does "lieutenant" mean?
As a noun, "lieutenant" means: der Dienstgrad zwischen captain (Hauptmann) und second lieutenant (Unterleutnant); in den USA wird es auch first lieutenant genannt; der Leutnant, der Oberleutnant
What words are commonly confused with "lieutenant"?
"lieutenant" is commonly confused with "Leutnant". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "lieutenant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lieutenant" is [lɛfˈtɛnənt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lieutenant" come from?
"lieutenant" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "lieutenant", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

monatliche#14,130nationales#14,134Kraftwerke#14,109Niedergang#14,137

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

letzteren14 variantskonkreter14 variantsoperativen14 variantsHypothese14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list