schnurren

[ˈʃnʊʁən]

/[ˈʃnʊʁən]/ verb

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

The verdict

“schnurren” is uncommon German (frequency #50,866 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,866
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ein gleichmäßiges, ratterndes, klapperndes, summendes Geräusch von sich geben

Corpus desk

Index DE-schnurren · schnurren · German

schnurren · rank #50,866 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,866
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH schnarcht

Nearest frequency peer: schnarcht (-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 „schnurren“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for schnurren
PropertyValue
Headwordschnurren
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃnʊʁən]
Letters9
Frequency rank#50,866
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „schnurren“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.schnurrenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „schnarcht“ (#50,865), „Schlosskirche“ (#50,864), „schwarzfahren“ (#50,869). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „schnurren“ bei #50,866. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

schnurren is uncommon German at frequency #50,866 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈʃnʊʁən]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for schnurren, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is schnurren, spelled S-C-H-N-U-R-R-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    ein gleichmäßiges, ratterndes, klapperndes, summendes Geräusch von sich geben
  2. 2
    einen charakteristischen, rasselnden Laut von sich geben, der Wohlbehagen oder Stress signalisiert
  3. 3
    reden, daherreden

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die Königstochter spann den Faden, und das Spinnrad schnurrte.
  2. Unsere Hauskatze schnurrt immer, wenn sie merkt, dass ihr Mahl vorbereitet wird.

This word in other languages

purr(English)zumbar(Español)ronronner(Français)

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 "schnurren"?
"schnurren" is spelled S-C-H-N-U-R-R-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃnʊʁən].
What does "schnurren" mean?
As a verb, "schnurren" means: ein gleichmäßiges, ratterndes, klapperndes, summendes Geräusch von sich geben
How do you pronounce "schnurren"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schnurren" is [ˈʃnʊʁən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schnurren" come from?
"schnurren" 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 "schnurren", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

schnarcht#50,865schlemmen#50,862schimmern#50,860sagenhaft#50,850

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list