Onkel

/[ˈɔŋkl̩]/ noun

Letters

5 characters

Frequency Rank

#4,145

in German word usage

Misspellings

7

tracked variants

Confusables

7

similar word pairs

Onkel is aGermannoun. It means: Bruder von Mutter oder Vater einer Person Pronounced [ˈɔŋkl̩]. It ranks #4,145 in German word frequency. Often confused with opel and Orgel.

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

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for Onkel is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈɔŋkl̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #4,145 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for Onkel, with forms such as "nokel", "oknel", and "onekl". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "opel", "Orgel", "Orakel", 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 Onkel, spelled O-N-K-E-L, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

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

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: nokel,oknel,onekl,onkell,onkkel,onkle,onnkel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Onkel

Misspelling Variants of "Onkel"

nokel5oknel5onekl5onkell6onkkel6onkle5onnkel6
Misspelling Variants of "Onkel"

Frequency rank: #4,145 in German

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. 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 O in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

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