Merkur
[mɛʁˈkuːɐ̯]
The verdict
“Merkur” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #12,128 in German word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #12,128
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - der der Sonne am nächsten stehende Planet unseres Sonnensystems
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Merkur |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | [mɛʁˈkuːɐ̯] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #12,128 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Merkur” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Merkur is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [mɛʁˈkuːɐ̯]. Corpus data places it at rank #12,128 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Merkur, with forms such as "emrkur", "mekrur", and "merkkur". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "merk", "merkt", "merke", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No documented word history exists for this headword, 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 Merkur, spelled M-E-R-K-U-R.
Definition
- 1der der Sonne am nächsten stehende Planet unseres Sonnensystems
- 2der römischer Gott des Handels und der Diebe
- 3Quecksilber
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: emrkur,mekrur,merkkur,merkru,merkurr,merrkur,merukr,mmerkur,mrekur
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Merkur - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "Merkur"?
What does "Merkur" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Merkur"?
How do you pronounce "Merkur"?
What language does "Merkur" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Merkur”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is M-E-R-K-U-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [mɛʁˈkuːɐ̯] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “merk” - see the side-by-side comparison. Merkur vs merk
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.