rotten

[ˈʁɔtn̩]

/[ˈʁɔtn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“rotten” has 5 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #34,340. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#34,340
frequency rank, German
2,984
“R” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - faulen, verfallen

Corpus desk

Index DE-rotten · rotten · German

rotten · rank #34,340 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,340
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,984
  • PHOTO-FINISH Rubriken

Nearest frequency peer: Rubriken (+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 „rotten“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „rotten“ 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).

rotten vs route
67% similar
rotten vs Rouen
50% similar
rotten vs Router
50% similar

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

Key facts for rotten
PropertyValue
Headwordrotten
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʁɔtn̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#34,340
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „rotten“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).rottenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Rubriken“ (#34,341), „rogue“ (#34,338), „rätselhaften“ (#34,342). Unter 2,984 „R“-Lemmata liegt „rotten“ bei #34,340. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around rotten (IPA [ˈʁɔtn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #34,340 among 2,984 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for rotten, with forms such as "rotetn", "rottenn", and "rottne". 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, "route", "Rouen", "Router", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, 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 rotten, spelled R-O-T-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    faulen, verfallen
  2. 2
    eine Rotte bilden

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Aber wie so oft in Hamburg regte sich Widerstand erst, als ein jahrelang rottender Bau kommerziell genutzt werden sollte.“
  2. Am Rande des Marktes rotten sich ein paar finstere Gestalten.

Synonyms

zerfallen

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • rotetn
  • rottenn
  • rottne
  • rrotten
  • rtoten

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rotten - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

rotetn2rottenn1rottne2rrotten1rtoten2
Edit distance from "rotten"

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Rhodos#34,335Satans#34,345Saudis#34,346Reigen#34,331

Similar misspelling depth

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

rogue5 variantsRübe5 variantsOzon5 variantsUnix5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list