Shiva

/[ˈʃiːva]/ noun

Letters

5 characters

Frequency Rank

#42,814

in German word usage

Misspellings

7

tracked variants

Confusables

10

similar word pairs

Shiva is aGermannoun. It means: das Prinzip der Zerstörung verkörpernder Gott des Hinduismus Pronounced [ˈʃiːva]. Often confused with sia and silva.

Key facts for Shiva
PropertyValue
HeadwordShiva
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈʃiːva]
Letters5
Frequency rank#42,814
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Shiva in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for Shiva is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈʃiːva]. Corpus data places it at rank #42,814 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "das Prinzip der Zerstörung verkörpernder Gott des Hinduismus".

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for Shiva, with forms such as "hsiva", "shhiva", and "shiav". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "sia", "silva", "sha", 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 spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is Shiva, spelled S-H-I-V-A, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    das Prinzip der Zerstörung verkörpernder Gott des Hinduismus

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hsiva,shhiva,shiav,shivva,shvia,sihva,sshiva

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Shiva

Misspelling Variants of "Shiva"

hsiva5shhiva6shiav5shivva6shvia5sihva5sshiva6
Misspelling Variants of "Shiva"

Frequency rank: #42,814 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Shiva"?
"Shiva" is spelled S-H-I-V-A. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃiːva].
What does "Shiva" mean?
As a noun, "Shiva" means: das Prinzip der Zerstörung verkörpernder Gott des Hinduismus
What words are commonly confused with "Shiva"?
"Shiva" is commonly confused with "sia", "silva", "sha". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Shiva"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Shiva" is [ˈʃiːva]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Shiva" come from?
"Shiva" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.