Ref
German, noun
Ref is spelled R-E-F (3 letters) and appears 2.6 times per million words in written German, the 20,214th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ref is a German neuter noun meaning “clipping of Referendariat” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). On this page, ref. is a different word: “abbreviation of reformiert”. On this page, Ref. is a different word: “abbreviation of Referent”.
What does Ref mean in English?
noun
- 1
colloquialneuterclipping of Referendariat
noun
- 1
colloquialmasculineclipping of Referee
- 2
colloquialmasculinenonstandardclipping of Referendar
adjective
- 1
abbreviation of reformiert
noun
- 1
masculineabbreviation of Referent
noun
- 1
feminineabbreviation of Referentin
- 2
feminineabbreviation of Referenz
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Forms of Ref
- Refs genitive
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is Ref in German?
Ref appears 2.6 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).