mercator

[merˈkaːtor]

/[merˈkaːtor]/ noun

The verdict

“mercator” is uncommon German (frequency #63,558 among 3,571 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,558
frequency rank, German
3,571
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Person, die Handel betreibt

Corpus desk

Index DE-mercator · mercator · German

mercator · rank #63,558 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #63,558
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,571
  • PHOTO-FINISH menschenleer

Nearest frequency peer: menschenleer (-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 „mercator“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for mercator
PropertyValue
Headwordmercator
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[merˈkaːtor]
Letters8
Frequency rank#63,558
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „mercator“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „menschenleer“ (#63,557), „Merlins“ (#63,560), „Metals“ (#63,561). Unter 3,571 „M“-Lemmata liegt „mercator“ bei #63,558. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mercator is uncommon German at frequency #63,558 among 3,571 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [merˈkaːtor]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for mercator in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is mercator, spelled M-E-R-C-A-T-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Person, die Handel betreibt
  2. 2
    Käufer, Ankäufer

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „mercatorem autem strenuum studiosumque rei quaerendae existimo, verum, ut supra dixi, periculosum et calamitosum.“ (Cato, agr., pr. 3)
  2. „horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae, propterea quod a cultu atque humanitate provinciae longissime absunt minimeque ad eos mercatores saepe commeant atque ea, quae ad effeminandos animos pertinent, inportant proximique sunt Germanis, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt.“ (Caes. Gall. 1,1,3)

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 "mercator"?
"mercator" is spelled M-E-R-C-A-T-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is [merˈkaːtor].
What does "mercator" mean?
As a noun, "mercator" means: Person, die Handel betreibt
How do you pronounce "mercator"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mercator" is [merˈkaːtor]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "mercator" come from?
"mercator" 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 "mercator", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list