roll

[ʁɔl]

/[ʁɔl]/ verb

The verdict

“roll” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #8,933 in German word frequency and used as a verb.

#8,933
frequency rank, German
4
letters
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rollen

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

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

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

Key facts for roll
PropertyValue
Headwordroll
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ʁɔl]
Letters4
Frequency rank#8,933
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “roll” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). roll lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for roll is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ʁɔl]. Corpus data places it at rank #8,933 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rollen".

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for roll, with forms such as "orll", "rlol", and "rol". 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, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is roll, spelled R-O-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rollen

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: orll,rlol,rol,rroll

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of roll - 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.

orll2rlol2rol1rroll1
Edit distance from "roll"

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 "roll"?
"roll" is spelled R-O-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ʁɔl].
What does "roll" mean?
As a verb, "roll" means: 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs rollen
What words are commonly confused with "roll"?
"roll" 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 "roll"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "roll" is [ʁɔl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "roll" come from?
"roll" 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.

Using “roll”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is R-O-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ʁɔl] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “rot” - see the side-by-side comparison. roll vs rot
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list