nicken

/[ˈnɪkn̩]/ verb

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#23,645

in German word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

15

similar word pairs

nicken is aGermanverb. It means: (zur Bejahung, Zustimmung, als Geste des Verstehens, als Gruß oder dergleichen) den Kopf kurz hintereinander senken und heben Pronounced [ˈnɪkn̩]. Often confused with Nike and nickt.

Key facts for nicken
PropertyValue
Headwordnicken
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈnɪkn̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#23,645
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs15
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of nicken in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for nicken is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈnɪkn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #23,645 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for nicken, with forms such as "incken", "nciken", and "niccken". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "Nike", "nickt", "Nieren", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

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. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is nicken, spelled N-I-C-K-E-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    (zur Bejahung, Zustimmung, als Geste des Verstehens, als Gruß oder dergleichen) den Kopf kurz hintereinander senken und heben
  2. 2
    etwas durch die unter [1] beschriebene Kopfbewegung ausdrücken
  3. 3
    (den Ball) mit der unter [1] beschriebenen Kopfbewegung irgendwohin köpfen
  4. 4
    (bei einigen Tieren, besonders Pferden) beim Gehen taktmäßig den Kopf senkend nach vorn strecken und hebend zurückziehen
  5. 5
    (von Fahrzeugen) sich fortbewegen und dabei gleichzeitig um die horizontale Querachse pendeln

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: incken,nciken,niccken,nicekn,nickenn,nickken,nickne,nikcen,nnicken

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for nicken

Misspelling Variants of "nicken"

incken6nciken6niccken7nicekn6nickenn7nickken7nickne6nikcen6
Misspelling Variants of "nicken"

Frequency rank: #23,645 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nicken"?
"nicken" is spelled N-I-C-K-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈnɪkn̩].
What does "nicken" mean?
As a verb, "nicken" means: (zur Bejahung, Zustimmung, als Geste des Verstehens, als Gruß oder dergleichen) den Kopf kurz hintereinander senken und heben
What words are commonly confused with "nicken"?
"nicken" is commonly confused with "Nike", "nickt", "Nieren". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "nicken"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nicken" is [ˈnɪkn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nicken" come from?
"nicken" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter N in our German index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.