Lotse

[ˈloːt͡sə]

/[ˈloːt͡sə]/ noun

The verdict

“Lotse” is uncommon German (frequency #68,440 among 2,640 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,440
frequency rank, German
2,640
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Schiffer/Seemann, der berufsmäßig Schiffe durch schwierige Gewässer leitet

Corpus desk

Index DE-lotse · Lotse · German

Lotse · rank #68,440 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,440
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,640
  • PHOTO-FINISH lotter

Nearest frequency peer: lotter (+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 „Lotse“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Lotse
PropertyValue
HeadwordLotse
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈloːt͡sə]
Letters5
Frequency rank#68,440
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Lotse“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Lotsefällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „lotter“ (#68,441), „Ländergrenzen“ (#68,442), „Lobbying“ (#68,437). Unter 2,640 „L“-Lemmata liegt „Lotse“ bei #68,440. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Lotse is uncommon German at frequency #68,440 among 2,640 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈloːt͡sə]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Lotse has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Lotse, spelled L-O-T-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Schiffer/Seemann, der berufsmäßig Schiffe durch schwierige Gewässer leitet
  2. 2
    Führer durch unbekannte Stadtteile oder gefährliche Verkehrslagen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Bis 1835 wurden die Lotsen in offenen Jollen versetzt.
  2. „Der Lotse machte auf mich einen ordentlichen und tüchtigen Eindruck.“

Synonyms

GastkapitänPilot

Antonyms

This word in other languages

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 "Lotse"?
"Lotse" is spelled L-O-T-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈloːt͡sə].
What does "Lotse" mean?
As a noun, "Lotse" means: Schiffer/Seemann, der berufsmäßig Schiffe durch schwierige Gewässer leitet
How do you pronounce "Lotse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Lotse" is [ˈloːt͡sə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Lotse" come from?
"Lotse" 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 "Lotse", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list