sow

[saʊ]

/[saʊ]/ noun

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

The verdict

“sow” is uncommon German (frequency #56,538 among 8,027 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,538
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - erwachsenes, weibliches Schwein; Bache, Sau

Corpus desk

Index DE-sow · sow · German

sow · rank #56,538 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,538
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sparschwein

Nearest frequency peer: Sparschwein (+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 „sow“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sow
PropertyValue
Headwordsow
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[saʊ]
Letters3
Frequency rank#56,538
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „sow“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Sparschwein“ (#56,539), „sono“ (#56,536), „Spediteur“ (#56,540). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „sow“ bei #56,538. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sow is uncommon German at frequency #56,538 among 8,027 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [saʊ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "erwachsenes, weibliches Schwein; Bache, Sau".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for sow, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is sow, spelled S-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    erwachsenes, weibliches Schwein; Bache, Sau

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. „Pregnancy lasts approximately 115 days and a sow will leave the group to construct a mound-like nest, 1–3 days before giving birth[.]“

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 "sow"?
"sow" is spelled S-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is [saʊ].
What does "sow" mean?
As a noun, "sow" means: erwachsenes, weibliches Schwein; Bache, Sau
How do you pronounce "sow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sow" is [saʊ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sow" come from?
"sow" 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 "sow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

sab#56,493vil#56,660noe#56,388neh#56,381

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list