Onkel

[ˈɔŋkl̩]

/[ˈɔŋkl̩]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Onkel” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #4,145. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,145
frequency rank, German
1,007
“O” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Bruder von Mutter oder Vater einer Person

Corpus desk

Index DE-onkel · Onkel · German

Onkel · rank #4,145 · 7 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,145
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,007
  • PHOTO-FINISH Olympia

Nearest frequency peer: Olympia (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Onkel“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Onkel“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

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).

Onkel vs opel
40% similar
Onkel vs Orgel
60% similar
Onkel vs Orakel
67% similar

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

Key facts for Onkel
PropertyValue
HeadwordOnkel
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈɔŋkl̩]
Letters5
Frequency rank#4,145
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Onkel“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Onkelliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Olympia“ (#4,144), „Pokal“ (#4,146), „neuem“ (#4,143). Unter 1,007 „O“-Lemmata liegt „Onkel“ bei #4,145. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around Onkel (IPA [ˈɔŋkl̩]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,145 among 1,007 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Onkel, with forms such as "nokel", "oknel", and "onekl". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "opel", "Orgel", "Orakel", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is Onkel, spelled O-N-K-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Bruder von Mutter oder Vater einer Person
  2. 2
    Schwager von Mutter oder Vater einer Person
  3. 3
    1. Grades: Bruder des Vaters
  4. 4
    Sohn einer Großtante oder eines Großonkels irgendeinen Grades
  5. 5
    irgendeine männliche, fremde Person

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Oma und Opa waren da, meine Eltern, mein Bruder Sebastian und Onkel Hugo.“
  2. „Ich stellte mir Onkel Louis vor, mit seiner Mütze auf dem Kopf, wie er am Steuer seines Citroëns saß und in den sonnigen Süden aufbrach.“

Antonyms

NeffeNichte

This word in other languages

uncle(English)tío(Español)oncle(Français)tio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nokel
  • oknel
  • onekl
  • onkell
  • onkkel
  • onkle
  • onnkel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Onkel - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

nokel2oknel2onekl2onkell1onkkel1onkle2onnkel1
Edit distance from "Onkel"

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 "Onkel"?
"Onkel" is spelled O-N-K-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈɔŋkl̩].
What does "Onkel" mean?
As a noun, "Onkel" means: Bruder von Mutter oder Vater einer Person
What words are commonly confused with "Onkel"?
"Onkel" is commonly confused with "opel", "Orgel", "Orakel". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Onkel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Onkel" is [ˈɔŋkl̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Onkel" come from?
"Onkel" 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 "Onkel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Pokal#4,146neuem#4,143Logik#4,138Laune#4,136

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

reiche7 variantsSarah7 variantsIndex7 variantsgutem7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list