Pontifex

[ˈpɔntiˌfɛks]

/[ˈpɔntiˌfɛks]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Pontifex” is uncommon German (frequency #55,617 among 3,409 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,617
frequency rank, German
3,409
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Priester, Oberpriester im antiken Rom

Corpus desk

Index DE-pontifex · Pontifex · German

Pontifex · rank #55,617 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,617
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,409
  • PHOTO-FINISH Polypen

Nearest frequency peer: Polypen (-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 „Pontifex“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Pontifex
PropertyValue
HeadwordPontifex
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈpɔntiˌfɛks]
Letters8
Frequency rank#55,617
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Pontifex“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Pontifexfällt 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: „Polypen“ (#55,616), „Populist“ (#55,618), „Polska“ (#55,615). Unter 3,409 „P“-Lemmata liegt „Pontifex“ bei #55,617. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Pontifex is uncommon German at frequency #55,617 among 3,409 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈpɔntiˌfɛks]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Pontifex has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is Pontifex, spelled P-O-N-T-I-F-E-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    Priester, Oberpriester im antiken Rom
  2. 2
    Pontifex maximus; Papst

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Ursprünglich bestand das Kollegium der Pontifices wohl aus 5, später aus 15 Mitgliedern.“
  2. „Gleichzeitig wird er in das Kollegium der Pontifices aufgenommen, das über die sakralen Dienste wacht.“

Synonyms

OberpriesterPriesterPapst

This word in other languages

pontifex(English)pontife(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 "Pontifex"?
"Pontifex" is spelled P-O-N-T-I-F-E-X. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈpɔntiˌfɛks].
What does "Pontifex" mean?
As a noun, "Pontifex" means: Priester, Oberpriester im antiken Rom
How do you pronounce "Pontifex"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Pontifex" is [ˈpɔntiˌfɛks]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Pontifex" come from?
"Pontifex" 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 "Pontifex", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Populist#55,618Präsente#55,629rasenden#55,639Orchidee#55,590

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list