reference

/[…]/ verb

Letters

9 characters

Frequency Rank

#36,581

in German word usage

Misspellings

13

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

reference is aGermanverb. It means: auf etwas verweisen Pronounced […]. Often confused with Referent and Referenz.

Key facts for reference
PropertyValue
Headwordreference
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[…]
Letters9
Frequency rank#36,581
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for reference is 9 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as […]. Corpus data places it at rank #36,581 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "auf etwas verweisen".

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for reference, with forms such as "erference", "reefrence", and "refeernce". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Referent", "Referenz", "Referenzen", 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 reference, spelled R-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    auf etwas verweisen

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: erference,reefrence,refeernce,referecne,referencce,referenec,referennce,refernece,referrence,refference,refreence,rfeerence,rreference

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for reference

Misspelling Variants of "reference"

erference9reefrence9refeernce9referecne9referencce10referenec9referennce10refernece9
Misspelling Variants of "reference"

Frequency rank: #36,581 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "reference"?
"reference" is spelled R-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is […].
What does "reference" mean?
As a verb, "reference" means: auf etwas verweisen
What words are commonly confused with "reference"?
"reference" is commonly confused with "Referent", "Referenz", "Referenzen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "reference"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "reference" is […]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "reference" come from?
"reference" 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 R 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.