Otter

[ˈɔtɐ]

/[ˈɔtɐ]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Otter” sits in 19 confusable pairs (corpus #35,946) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#35,946
frequency rank, German
1,007
“O” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - kleines Säugetier, das im und am Wasser lebt und zur Familie der Marder gehört

Corpus desk

Index DE-otter · Otter · German

Otter · rank #35,946 · 4 variants · 19 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #35,946
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,007
  • PHOTO-FINISH Ostfront

Nearest frequency peer: Ostfront (-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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „Otter“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „Otter“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

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).

Otter vs Otto
60% similar
Otter vs over
40% similar
Otter vs Ottos
60% similar

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

Key facts for Otter
PropertyValue
HeadwordOtter
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈɔtɐ]
Letters5
Frequency rank#35,946
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs19
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „Otter“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Otterliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Ostfront“ (#35,945), „Papierkorb“ (#35,947), „Ortsverein“ (#35,944). Unter 1,007 „O“-Lemmata liegt „Otter“ bei #35,946. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Otter is neighbouring look-alikes ("Otto", "over", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ˈɔtɐ]. Frequency #35,946 among 1,007 “O” headwords. Gloss: "kleines Säugetier, das im und am Wasser lebt und zur Familie der Marder gehört".

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for Otter, with forms such as "oter", "otetr", and "otterr". 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 19 confusable-pair relationships, "Otto", "over", "Ottos", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is Otter, spelled O-T-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    kleines Säugetier, das im und am Wasser lebt und zur Familie der Marder gehört

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Otter bewohnen alle Erdteile außer Australien.

Synonyms

Lutrinae

This word in other languages

otter(English)nutria(Español)loutre(Français)nútria(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • oter
  • otetr
  • otterr
  • ottre

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Otter - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

oter1otetr2otterr1ottre2
Edit distance from "Otter"

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 "Otter"?
"Otter" is spelled O-T-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈɔtɐ].
What does "Otter" mean?
As a noun, "Otter" means: kleines Säugetier, das im und am Wasser lebt und zur Familie der Marder gehört
What words are commonly confused with "Otter"?
"Otter" is commonly confused with "Otto", "over", "Ottos". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Otter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Otter" is [ˈɔtɐ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Otter" come from?
"Otter" 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 "Otter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

puren#35,969Logen#35,896libre#35,891Lemke#35,888

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list