sondieren

[zɔnˈdiːʁən]

/[zɔnˈdiːʁən]/ verb

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

The verdict

“sondieren” is uncommon German (frequency #68,684 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,684
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - etwas untersuchen, zum Beispiel Alternativen und Möglichkeiten abklären, betrachten

Corpus desk

Index DE-sondieren · sondieren · German

sondieren · rank #68,684 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,684
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sonderdruck

Nearest frequency peer: Sonderdruck (-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 „sondieren“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sondieren
PropertyValue
Headwordsondieren
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[zɔnˈdiːʁən]
Letters9
Frequency rank#68,684
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „sondieren“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).sondierenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Sonderdruck“ (#68,683), „softball“ (#68,682), „Sobernheim“ (#68,681). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „sondieren“ bei #68,684. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sondieren is uncommon German at frequency #68,684 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [zɔnˈdiːʁən]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for sondieren, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is sondieren, spelled S-O-N-D-I-E-R-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas untersuchen, zum Beispiel Alternativen und Möglichkeiten abklären, betrachten
  2. 2
    mit Hilfe eines in den Körper eingeführten Beobachtungsgerätes (Sonde) untersuchen
  3. 3
    mit Hilfe von Geräten ein Gebiet, zum Beispiel den Boden, erkunden
  4. 4
    loten, die Wassertiefe messen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Bevor wir uns entscheiden, müssen wir alle Möglichkeiten sondieren.
  2. Ich gehe mal rüber und sondier, wann die Müllers mit dem Frühstück fertig sind. Vielleicht können wir früher los.

This word in other languages

sound(English)sondar(Español)sonder(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 "sondieren"?
"sondieren" is spelled S-O-N-D-I-E-R-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [zɔnˈdiːʁən].
What does "sondieren" mean?
As a verb, "sondieren" means: etwas untersuchen, zum Beispiel Alternativen und Möglichkeiten abklären, betrachten
How do you pronounce "sondieren"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sondieren" is [zɔnˈdiːʁən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sondieren" come from?
"sondieren" 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 "sondieren", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Schönbuch#68,662stehendem#68,708Steroiden#68,711schrubben#68,651

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list