role

[…]

/[…]/ noun

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

The verdict

“role” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #35,998) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#35,998
frequency rank, German
2,984
“R” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - die Rolle

Corpus desk

Index DE-role · role · German

role · rank #35,998 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #35,998
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,984
  • PHOTO-FINISH Ritterschaft

Nearest frequency peer: Ritterschaft (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “role”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “role” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

role vs rot
50% similar
role vs RTL
0% similar
role vs ron
50% similar

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

Key facts for role
PropertyValue
Headwordrole
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[…]
Letters4
Frequency rank#35,998
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “role” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).roleliegt hier:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Ritterschaft“ (#35,997), „Rundreise“ (#36,000), „richterliche“ (#35,995). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for role is neighbouring look-alikes ("rot", "RTL", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced […]. Frequency #35,998 among 2,984 “R” headwords. Gloss: "die Rolle".

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for role, with forms such as "orle", "rloe", and "roel". 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, "rot", "RTL", "ron", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is role, spelled R-O-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    die Rolle

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Which role was your favorite one?

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • orle
  • rloe
  • roel
  • rrole

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of role - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

orle2rloe2roel2rrole1
Edit distance from "role"

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 "role"?
"role" is spelled R-O-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is […].
What does "role" mean?
As a noun, "role" means: die Rolle
What words are commonly confused with "role"?
"role" is commonly confused with "rot", "RTL", "ron". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "role"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "role" is […]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "role" come from?
"role" 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 "role", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

SARS#36,004supi#36,051surf#36,052OPEC#35,943

What to do next

You've looked up "role". Here's where to go from here.

  • "role" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "rot". View pair
  • 4 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #35,998 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "R" letter cohort. R–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list