Motto

[ˈmɔto]

/[ˈmɔto]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Motto” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #2,984) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#2,984
frequency rank, German
3,571
“M” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - eine – oft schlagwortartige – programmatische Aussage, die eine Person, Institution oder Veranstaltung charakterisieren oder prägen soll

Corpus desk

Index DE-motto · Motto · German

Motto · rank #2,984 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,984
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,571
  • PHOTO-FINISH Mannheim

Nearest frequency peer: Mannheim (-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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „Motto“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „Motto“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

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).

Motto vs Mutti
60% similar
Motto vs mouth
40% similar
Motto vs mot
40% similar

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

Key facts for Motto
PropertyValue
HeadwordMotto
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈmɔto]
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,984
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „Motto“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Mottoliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Mannheim“ (#2,983), „Nachfrage“ (#2,985), „lauter“ (#2,982). Unter 3,571 „M“-Lemmata liegt „Motto“ bei #2,984. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Motto is neighbouring look-alikes ("Mutti", "mouth", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ˈmɔto]. Frequency #2,984 among 3,571 “M” headwords. Gloss: "eine – oft schlagwortartige – programmatische Aussage, die eine Person, Institution oder Veranstaltung charakterisieren oder prägen soll".

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for Motto, with forms such as "mmotto", "motot", and "mtoto". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Mutti", "mouth", "mot", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, 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 Motto, spelled M-O-T-T-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    eine – oft schlagwortartige – programmatische Aussage, die eine Person, Institution oder Veranstaltung charakterisieren oder prägen soll

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Er lebte immer nach dem Motto: Warum einfach, wenn's auch schwer geht?
  2. „Leben aus Gottes Kraft - viele Besucher beziehen das Motto des Katholikentags wohl eher auf ihre persönliche Frömmigkeit und Sinnfindung.“

Synonyms

DeviseLeitgedankeLeitspruchMaximeParoleWahlspruch

This word in other languages

motto(English)lema(Español)devise(Français)lema(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • mmotto
  • motot
  • mtoto
  • omtto

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

mmotto1motot2mtoto2omtto2
Edit distance from "Motto"

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 "Motto"?
"Motto" is spelled M-O-T-T-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈmɔto].
What does "Motto" mean?
As a noun, "Motto" means: eine – oft schlagwortartige – programmatische Aussage, die eine Person, Institution oder Veranstaltung charakterisieren oder prägen soll
What words are commonly confused with "Motto"?
"Motto" is commonly confused with "Mutti", "mouth", "mot". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Motto"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Motto" is [ˈmɔto]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Motto" come from?
"Motto" 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 "Motto", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Prinz#2,986Kunde#2,981sahen#2,987Konto#2,980

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list