niederknien

[ˈniːdɐˌkniːn]

/[ˈniːdɐˌkniːn]/ verb

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

The verdict

“niederknien” is uncommon German (frequency #72,776 among 1,954 “N” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,776
frequency rank, German
1,954
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - auf die Knie gehen, eine kniende Haltung einnehmen

Corpus desk

Index DE-niederknien · niederknien · German

niederknien · rank #72,776 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,776
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,954
  • PHOTO-FINISH neustem

Nearest frequency peer: neustem (-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 „niederknien“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for niederknien
PropertyValue
Headwordniederknien
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈniːdɐˌkniːn]
Letters11
Frequency rank#72,776
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „niederknien“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „neustem“ (#72,775), „Nirwana“ (#72,777), „Neurosen“ (#72,774). Unter 1,954 „N“-Lemmata liegt „niederknien“ bei #72,776. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

niederknien is uncommon German at frequency #72,776 among 1,954 “N” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈniːdɐˌkniːn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "auf die Knie gehen, eine kniende Haltung einnehmen".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for niederknien, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is niederknien, spelled N-I-E-D-E-R-K-N-I-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    auf die Knie gehen, eine kniende Haltung einnehmen

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Als er dem Papst gegenübertrat, kniete er nieder und küsste den Fischerring.

Synonyms

hinknien

This word in other languages

arrodillarse(Español)

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 "niederknien"?
"niederknien" is spelled N-I-E-D-E-R-K-N-I-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈniːdɐˌkniːn].
What does "niederknien" mean?
As a verb, "niederknien" means: auf die Knie gehen, eine kniende Haltung einnehmen
How do you pronounce "niederknien"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "niederknien" is [ˈniːdɐˌkniːn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "niederknien" come from?
"niederknien" 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 "niederknien", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Nymphomanin#72,782Okkultismus#72,784nachwachsen#72,761Mittelmeers#72,739

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list