schwiegen

[ˈʃviːɡn̩]

/[ˈʃviːɡn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“schwiegen” is uncommon German (frequency #65,669 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#65,669
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schweigen

Corpus desk

Index DE-schwiegen · schwiegen · German

schwiegen · rank #65,669 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #65,669
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH schwängern

Nearest frequency peer: schwängern (+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 „schwiegen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for schwiegen
PropertyValue
Headwordschwiegen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃviːɡn̩]
Letters9
Frequency rank#65,669
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „schwiegen“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „schwängern“ (#65,670), „Schwenke“ (#65,667), „Schweinestall“ (#65,666). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „schwiegen“ bei #65,669. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

schwiegen is uncommon German at frequency #65,669 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈʃviːɡn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for schwiegen in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is schwiegen, spelled S-C-H-W-I-E-G-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schweigen
  2. 2
    1. Person Plural Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schweigen
  3. 3
    3. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schweigen
  4. 4
    3. Person Plural Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schweigen

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 "schwiegen"?
"schwiegen" is spelled S-C-H-W-I-E-G-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃviːɡn̩].
What does "schwiegen" mean?
As a verb, "schwiegen" means: 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs schweigen
How do you pronounce "schwiegen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "schwiegen" is [ˈʃviːɡn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "schwiegen" come from?
"schwiegen" 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 "schwiegen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Segnungen#65,677schmerzte#65,656skalieren#65,688Saftladen#65,639

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list