little

[ˈlɪtl]

/[ˈlɪtl]/ adj

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

The verdict

“little” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #6,448. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,448
frequency rank, German
2,640
“L” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - klein

Corpus desk

Index DE-little · little · German

little · rank #6,448 · 7 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,448
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,640
  • PHOTO-FINISH Löcher

Nearest frequency peer: Löcher (+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 „little“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „little“ 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).

little vs lotte
67% similar
little vs litt
67% similar
little vs lite
67% similar

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

Key facts for little
PropertyValue
Headwordlittle
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈlɪtl]
Letters6
Frequency rank#6,448
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „little“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.littleliegt 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: „Löcher“ (#6,449), „legal“ (#6,446), „markiert“ (#6,450). Unter 2,640 „L“-Lemmata liegt „little“ bei #6,448. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around little (IPA [ˈlɪtl]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #6,448 among 2,640 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for little, with forms such as "ilttle", "litle", and "litlte". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "lotte", "litt", "lite", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is little, spelled L-I-T-T-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    klein
  2. 2
    niedrig, gering
  3. 3
    kurz
  4. 4
    wenig

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Yesterday we found a little cat.
  2. In a little while.

Synonyms

diminutiveinfinitesimalminutesmalltinyweebriefshortsmallfeebleinconsiderableinsignificantmoderatepettyscantyslenderslighttrivialunimportantweakcontemptibleilliberalmeannarrowniggardlypaltryselfishstingy

This word in other languages

peu(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ilttle
  • litle
  • litlte
  • littel
  • littlle
  • llittle
  • ltitle

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of little - 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.

ilttle2litle1litlte2littel2littlle1llittle1ltitle2
Edit distance from "little"

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 "little"?
"little" is spelled L-I-T-T-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈlɪtl].
What does "little" mean?
As an adjective, "little" means: klein
What words are commonly confused with "little"?
"little" is commonly confused with "lotte", "litt", "lite". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "little"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "little" is [ˈlɪtl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "little" come from?
"little" 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 "little", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Löcher#6,449küssen#6,445Kasten#6,442gültig#6,432

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

legal7 variantsmobil7 variantsHonig7 variantsringe7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list