RTL

[ɛʁ teː ˈʔɛl]

/[ɛʁ teː ˈʔɛl]/ abbrev

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

The verdict

“RTL” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #4,300) as an abbreviation. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#4,300
frequency rank, German
2,984
“R” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Radio Télé Lëtzebuerg: deutschsprachiger privater Fernsehsender

Corpus desk

Index DE-rtl · RTL · German

RTL · rank #4,300 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,300
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,984
  • PHOTO-FINISH richtiger

Nearest frequency peer: richtiger (-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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „RTL“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „RTL“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

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).

RTL vs RV
33% similar
RTL vs RZ
33% similar
RTL vs Ru
33% similar

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

Key facts for RTL
PropertyValue
HeadwordRTL
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAbbreviation
IPA[ɛʁ teː ˈʔɛl]
Letters3
Frequency rank#4,300
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „RTL“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).RTLliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „richtiger“ (#4,299), „Sack“ (#4,301), „reichlich“ (#4,298). Unter 2,984 „R“-Lemmata liegt „RTL“ bei #4,300. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for RTL is neighbouring look-alikes ("RV", "RZ", …), not just typos; it is anabbreviation pronounced [ɛʁ teː ˈʔɛl]. Frequency #4,300 among 2,984 “R” headwords. Gloss: "Radio Télé Lëtzebuerg: deutschsprachiger privater Fernsehsender".

No generated misspelling entries exist for RTL in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "RV", "RZ", "Ru", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is RTL, spelled R-T-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Radio Télé Lëtzebuerg: deutschsprachiger privater Fernsehsender

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Gesamtmarktführer bleibt die ARD, beim jungen Publikum liegt RTL vorne.
  2. „Die deutsche Mediengruppe RTL beendet ab Donnerstag schrittweise die Übertragung ihrer Programme über die Fernsehantenne.“

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 "RTL"?
"RTL" is spelled R-T-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛʁ teː ˈʔɛl].
What does "RTL" mean?
As an abbreviation, "RTL" means: Radio Télé Lëtzebuerg: deutschsprachiger privater Fernsehsender
What words are commonly confused with "RTL"?
"RTL" is commonly confused with "RV", "RZ", "Ru". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "RTL"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "RTL" is [ɛʁ teː ˈʔɛl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "RTL" come from?
"RTL" 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 "RTL", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

HMM#4,357off#4,224Leo#4,217CO2#4,186

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list