locomotive

[ləʊkəˈməʊtɪv]

/[ləʊkəˈməʊtɪv]/ noun

The verdict

“locomotive” is uncommon German (frequency #97,331 among 2,640 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#97,331
frequency rank, German
2,640
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Zugfahrzeug für den Schienenverkehr

Corpus desk

Index DE-locomotive · locomotive · German

locomotive · rank #97,331 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #97,331
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,640
  • PHOTO-FINISH literacy

Nearest frequency peer: literacy (-2 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 „locomotive“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for locomotive
PropertyValue
Headwordlocomotive
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ləʊkəˈməʊtɪv]
Letters10
Frequency rank#97,331
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „locomotive“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).locomotivefällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „literacy“ (#97,329), „Linsensuppe“ (#97,327), „Losverfahren“ (#97,335). Unter 2,640 „L“-Lemmata liegt „locomotive“ bei #97,331. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

locomotive is uncommon German at frequency #97,331 among 2,640 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ləʊkəˈməʊtɪv]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Zugfahrzeug für den Schienenverkehr".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for locomotive, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is locomotive, spelled L-O-C-O-M-O-T-I-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Zugfahrzeug für den Schienenverkehr

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 "locomotive"?
"locomotive" is spelled L-O-C-O-M-O-T-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ləʊkəˈməʊtɪv].
What does "locomotive" mean?
As a noun, "locomotive" means: Zugfahrzeug für den Schienenverkehr
How do you pronounce "locomotive"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "locomotive" is [ləʊkəˈməʊtɪv]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "locomotive" come from?
"locomotive" 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 "locomotive", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list