PCB

[peːtseːˈbeː]

/[peːtseːˈbeː]/ abbrev

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

The verdict

“PCB” is uncommon German (frequency #60,902 among 3,409 “P” headwords), classed as an abbreviation. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,902
frequency rank, German
3,409
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Polychlorierte Biphenyle

Corpus desk

Index DE-pcb · PCB · German

PCB · rank #60,902 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,902
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,409
  • PHOTO-FINISH Passwörtern

Nearest frequency peer: Passwörtern (-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 „PCB“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for PCB
PropertyValue
HeadwordPCB
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAbbreviation
IPA[peːtseːˈbeː]
Letters3
Frequency rank#60,902
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „PCB“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Passwörtern“ (#60,901), „peers“ (#60,903), „particular“ (#60,900). Unter 3,409 „P“-Lemmata liegt „PCB“ bei #60,902. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

PCB is uncommon German at frequency #60,902 among 3,409 “P” headwords, classed as anabbreviation, transcribed [peːtseːˈbeː]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Polychlorierte Biphenyle".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for PCB, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. 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.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is PCB, spelled P-C-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    Polychlorierte Biphenyle

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Verbotene Chemikalien gefährden das Überleben von Europas Meeressäugern: Polychlorierte Biphenyle, kurz PCB.
  2. In Bonn, Gelsenkirchen und Münster wurde der krebserregende und weltweit verbotene Weichmacher PCB in der Raumluft nachgewiesen.

This word in other languages

PCB(English)PCB(Français)

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 "PCB"?
"PCB" is spelled P-C-B. The IPA pronunciation is [peːtseːˈbeː].
What does "PCB" mean?
As an abbreviation, "PCB" means: Polychlorierte Biphenyle
How do you pronounce "PCB"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "PCB" is [peːtseːˈbeː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "PCB" come from?
"PCB" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "PCB", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ota#60,890olm#60,883OHL#60,881mtu#60,851

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list