NFL

[ɛnʔɛfˈʔɛl]

/[ɛnʔɛfˈʔɛl]/ abbrev

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

The verdict

“NFL” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #13,450) as an abbreviation. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#13,450
frequency rank, German
1,954
“N” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - National Football League; höchste US-amerikanische Liga für American Football

Corpus desk

Index DE-nfl · NFL · German

NFL · rank #13,450 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,450
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,954
  • PHOTO-FINISH Neutralität

Nearest frequency peer: Neutralität (-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 „NFL“

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

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „NFL“ 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).

NFL vs NS
33% similar
NFL vs Ni
33% similar
NFL vs nm
0% similar

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

Key facts for NFL
PropertyValue
HeadwordNFL
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAbbreviation
IPA[ɛnʔɛfˈʔɛl]
Letters3
Frequency rank#13,450
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „NFL“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).NFLliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Neutralität“ (#13,449), „Notiz“ (#13,451), „neusten“ (#13,448). Unter 1,954 „N“-Lemmata liegt „NFL“ bei #13,450. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for NFL is neighbouring look-alikes ("NS", "Ni", …), not just typos; it is anabbreviation pronounced [ɛnʔɛfˈʔɛl]. Frequency #13,450 among 1,954 “N” headwords. Gloss: "National Football League; höchste US-amerikanische Liga für American Football".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for NFL, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "NS", "Ni", "nm", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is NFL, spelled N-F-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    National Football League; höchste US-amerikanische Liga für American Football

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. „Offiziell betrachtet die NFL das Jahr 1920 als das Jahr ihrer Gründung.“

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 "NFL"?
"NFL" is spelled N-F-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛnʔɛfˈʔɛl].
What does "NFL" mean?
As an abbreviation, "NFL" means: National Football League; höchste US-amerikanische Liga für American Football
What words are commonly confused with "NFL"?
"NFL" is commonly confused with "NS", "Ni", "nm". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "NFL"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "NFL" is [ɛnʔɛfˈʔɛl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "NFL" come from?
"NFL" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "NFL", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

PCS#13,457Pia#13,458Mob#13,441PKK#13,459

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list