reference

[…]

/[…]/ verb

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

The verdict

“reference” has 13 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #36,581. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#36,581
frequency rank, German
2,984
“R” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - auf etwas verweisen

Corpus desk

Index DE-reference · reference · German

reference · rank #36,581 · 13 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #36,581
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,984
  • PHOTO-FINISH Referate

Nearest frequency peer: Referate (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „reference“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „reference“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

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).

reference vs Referent
67% similar
reference vs Referenz
67% similar
reference vs Referenzen
70% similar

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

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

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „reference“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.referenceliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Referate“ (#36,580), „reges“ (#36,582), „Rechtsruck“ (#36,579). Unter 2,984 „R“-Lemmata liegt „reference“ bei #36,581. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around reference (IPA […]), averb. Corpus frequency is #36,581 among 2,984 “R” headwords. Dominant gloss: "auf etwas verweisen".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for reference, with forms such as "erference", "reefrence", and "refeernce". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, 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, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is reference, spelled R-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    auf etwas verweisen

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Statistical data is referenced in the glossary.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • erference
  • reefrence
  • refeernce
  • referecne
  • referencce
  • referenec
  • referennce
  • refernece
  • referrence
  • refference
  • refreence
  • rfeerence
  • rreference

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of reference - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

erference2reefrence2refeernce2referecne2referencce1referenec2referennce1refernece2
Edit distance from "reference"

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 "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. 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 "reference", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

regulärer#36,584Raubtiere#36,577questions#36,570Pünktchen#36,569

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

prägnant13 variantsRückwand13 variantsschnüren13 variantsSkandals13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list