Nelke

[ˈnɛlkə]

/[ˈnɛlkə]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Nelke” is uncommon German (frequency #68,518 among 1,954 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,518
frequency rank, German
1,954
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - schmalblättrige, weiß bis rotviolett blühende Pflanze der Gattung Dianthus

Corpus desk

Index DE-nelke · Nelke · German

Nelke · rank #68,518 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,518
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,954
  • PHOTO-FINISH nech

Nearest frequency peer: nech (-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 „Nelke“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Nelke
PropertyValue
HeadwordNelke
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈnɛlkə]
Letters5
Frequency rank#68,518
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Nelke“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „nech“ (#68,517), „Nervengift“ (#68,519), „Naturgewalt“ (#68,516). Unter 1,954 „N“-Lemmata liegt „Nelke“ bei #68,518. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Nelke is uncommon German at frequency #68,518 among 1,954 “N” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈnɛlkə]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for Nelke in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, 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 to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is Nelke, spelled N-E-L-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    schmalblättrige, weiß bis rotviolett blühende Pflanze der Gattung Dianthus
  2. 2
    stark duftende und brennend scharf schmeckende, getrocknete Blütenknospen des Gewürznelkenbaums (Syzygium aromaticum)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Er trug eine Nelke im Knopfloch.
  2. „Wahrscheinlich war sie von den Nelken des Emigranten Wiesenhoff angelockt worden und suchte nun nach anderen Blumen.“

Synonyms

GewürznelkeNägeliWürznelke

This word in other languages

pink(English)clavel(Español)œillet(Français)cravo(Português)

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 "Nelke"?
"Nelke" is spelled N-E-L-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈnɛlkə].
What does "Nelke" mean?
As a noun, "Nelke" means: schmalblättrige, weiß bis rotviolett blühende Pflanze der Gattung Dianthus
How do you pronounce "Nelke"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Nelke" is [ˈnɛlkə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Nelke" come from?
"Nelke" 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 "Nelke", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

nativ#68,515Namur#68,513Peitz#68,554mitra#68,478

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list