Spiritus

[ˈspiːʁitʊs]

/[ˈspiːʁitʊs]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Spiritus” has 12 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #35,457. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#35,457
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Hauch, Atem (Hauchlaut); Lebenshauch, Geist

Corpus desk

Index DE-spiritus · Spiritus · German

Spiritus · rank #35,457 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #35,457
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH sprunghaft

Nearest frequency peer: sprunghaft (+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 „Spiritus“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „Spiritus“ 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).

Spiritus vs spirit
63% similar
Spiritus vs Sirius
75% similar

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

Key facts for Spiritus
PropertyValue
HeadwordSpiritus
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈspiːʁitʊs]
Letters8
Frequency rank#35,457
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Spiritus“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Spiritusliegt 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: „sprunghaft“ (#35,458), „Spermien“ (#35,455), „Spanner“ (#35,454). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „Spiritus“ bei #35,457. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around Spiritus (IPA [ˈspiːʁitʊs]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #35,457 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for Spiritus, with forms such as "psiritus", "sipritus", and "spiirtus". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "spirit", "Sirius", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is Spiritus, spelled S-P-I-R-I-T-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Hauch, Atem (Hauchlaut); Lebenshauch, Geist
  2. 2
    gut brennbare Flüssigkeit, (vergällter) Alkohol; Weingeist
  3. 3
    diakritisches Zeichen in der griechischen Schrift, um einen Stimmeinsatz mit oder ohne Behauchung anzuzeigen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Jedes vokalisch anlautende Wort im Altgriechischen besitzt einen Spiritus. (Internetbeleg)
  2. Spiritus ist 96%-iger Alkohol (Ethanol). Spiritus wirkt fettlösend und wird zum Beispiel zum Reinigen von Fensterscheiben verwendet. (Internetbeleg)

Synonyms

AtemGeistSpritEthanolEthylalkoholBranntweinWeingeist

This word in other languages

spirit(English)alcohol(Español)alcool(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psiritus
  • sipritus
  • spiirtus
  • spiritsu
  • spirittus
  • spirituss
  • spiriuts
  • spirritus
  • spirtius
  • sppiritus
  • spriitus
  • sspiritus

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Spiritus - 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.

psiritus2sipritus2spiirtus2spiritsu2spirittus1spirituss1spiriuts2spirritus1
Edit distance from "Spiritus"

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 "Spiritus"?
"Spiritus" is spelled S-P-I-R-I-T-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈspiːʁitʊs].
What does "Spiritus" mean?
As a noun, "Spiritus" means: Hauch, Atem (Hauchlaut); Lebenshauch, Geist
What words are commonly confused with "Spiritus"?
"Spiritus" is commonly confused with "spirit", "Sirius". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Spiritus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Spiritus" is [ˈspiːʁitʊs]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Spiritus" come from?
"Spiritus" 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 "Spiritus", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Spermien#35,455singende#35,447störende#35,475Theatern#35,481

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

Rolltreppe12 variantsRheintal12 variantsUnterton12 variantsRamstein12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list