rival

[raɪvl]

/[raɪvl]/ noun

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

The verdict

“rival” is uncommon German (frequency #92,146 among 2,984 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#92,146
frequency rank, German
2,984
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Rivale, Konkurrent

Corpus desk

Index DE-rival · rival · German

rival · rank #92,146 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #92,146
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,984
  • PHOTO-FINISH rituell

Nearest frequency peer: rituell (-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 „rival“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for rival
PropertyValue
Headwordrival
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[raɪvl]
Letters5
Frequency rank#92,146
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „rival“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „rituell“ (#92,145), „riskierst“ (#92,144), „Rodelbahn“ (#92,148). Unter 2,984 „R“-Lemmata liegt „rival“ bei #92,146. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

rival is uncommon German at frequency #92,146 among 2,984 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [raɪvl]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Rivale, Konkurrent".

Zero misspellings are on record for rival in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is rival, spelled R-I-V-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Rivale, Konkurrent

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. They have been rivals for more than ten years.

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 "rival"?
"rival" is spelled R-I-V-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is [raɪvl].
What does "rival" mean?
As a noun, "rival" means: Rivale, Konkurrent
How do you pronounce "rival"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rival" is [raɪvl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "rival" come from?
"rival" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "rival", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Rogen#92,149reken#92,131Satyr#92,168raunt#92,113

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list