spannen

[ˈʃpanən]

/[ˈʃpanən]/ verb

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

The verdict

“spannen” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #19,042. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,042
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - etwas mit Kraftaufwand glatt machen

Corpus desk

Index DE-spannen · spannen · German

spannen · rank #19,042 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,042
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH spektakulären

Nearest frequency peer: spektakulären (+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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „spannen“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „spannen“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

spannen vs sparen
71% similar
spannen vs Spinne
57% similar
spannen vs spannt
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for spannen
PropertyValue
Headwordspannen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈʃpanən]
Letters7
Frequency rank#19,042
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „spannen“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.spannenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „spektakulären“ (#19,043), „sit“ (#19,040), „sponsoring“ (#19,044). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „spannen“ bei #19,042. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around spannen (IPA [ˈʃpanən]), averb. Corpus frequency is #19,042 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for spannen, with forms such as "psannen", "sapnnen", and "spanen". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sparen", "Spinne", "spannt", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is spannen, spelled S-P-A-N-N-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas mit Kraftaufwand glatt machen
  2. 2
    etwas befestigen, einfügen
  3. 3
    fest, (zu) straff sein
  4. 4
    fest, stramm werden
  5. 5
    ein Zugtier vor dem Gerät oder Fahrzeug, das es ziehen soll, angurten
  6. 6
    sich über eine Distanz erstrecken
  7. 7
    etwas anziehen und somit zum Auslösen bereit machen
  8. 8
    jemanden beobachten, penetrant anstarren
  9. 9
    etwas zur Kenntnis nehmen, gedanklich erfassen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die Leine muss etwas mehr gespannt werden.
  2. Er spannte das Werkstück in den Schraubstock.

Antonyms

lösen

This word in other languages

tighten(English)estirar(Español)serrer(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psannen
  • sapnnen
  • spanen
  • spanenn
  • spannenn
  • spannne
  • spnanen
  • sppannen
  • sspannen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spannen - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

psannen2sapnnen2spanen1spanenn2spannenn1spannne2spnanen2sppannen1
Edit distance from "spannen"

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 "spannen"?
"spannen" is spelled S-P-A-N-N-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃpanən].
What does "spannen" mean?
As a verb, "spannen" means: etwas mit Kraftaufwand glatt machen
What words are commonly confused with "spannen"?
"spannen" is commonly confused with "sparen", "Spinne", "spannt". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spannen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spannen" is [ˈʃpanən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "spannen" come from?
"spannen" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "spannen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Stühlen#19,050Schwarm#19,032umstieg#19,062reinste#19,016

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Schiss9 variantsröhren9 variantsMoslem9 variantslösten9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list