Nilpferd
[ˈniːlˌp͡feːɐ̯t]
The verdict
“Nilpferd” is uncommon German (frequency #62,689 among 26,919 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #62,689
- frequency rank, German
- 26,919
- “N” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - (gesellig in und an stehenden und langsam fließenden Binnengewässern des subsaharischen Afrikas lebendes) pflanzenfressendes, nicht wiederkäuendes, zu den Paarhufern und Dickhäutern gehörendes, bra...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Nilpferd |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈniːlˌp͡feːɐ̯t] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #62,689 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Nilpferd” sits in German frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Nilpferd is uncommon German at frequency #62,689 among 26,919 “N” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈniːlˌp͡feːɐ̯t]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "(gesellig in und an stehenden und langsam fließenden Binnengewässern des subsaharischen Afrikas lebendes) pflanzenfressendes, nicht wiederkäuendes, zu den Paarhufern und Dickhäutern gehörendes, bra...".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Nilpferd, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, 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 best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is Nilpferd, spelled N-I-L-P-F-E-R-D.
Definition
- 1(gesellig in und an stehenden und langsam fließenden Binnengewässern des subsaharischen Afrikas lebendes) pflanzenfressendes, nicht wiederkäuendes, zu den Paarhufern und Dickhäutern gehörendes, braunhäutiges Säugetier mit nahezu haarlosem und massigem, plumpem Körper, kurzen, stämmigen Beinen mit Schwimmhäuten an deren Zehen, breitem Kopf mit kleinen Augen und Ohren und einem riesigen Maul mit langen, hauerartigen Eckzähnen (Hippopotamus amphibius)
Synonyms
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
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Using “Nilpferd”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is N-I-L-P-F-E-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈniːlˌp͡feːɐ̯t] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Other uncommon German words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.