Stau

[ʃtaʊ̯]

/[ʃtaʊ̯]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Stau” has 5 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #7,819. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,819
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - durch eine Behinderung oder ein Hindernis verursachte Störung des Durchflusses oder Durchgangs; Nomen acti: Ergebnis des Stauens

Corpus desk

Index DE-stau · Stau · German

Stau · rank #7,819 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,819
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH speed

Nearest frequency peer: speed (-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 „Stau“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „Stau“ 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).

Stau vs ste
25% similar
Stau vs STK
25% similar
Stau vs StB
50% similar

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

Key facts for Stau
PropertyValue
HeadwordStau
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ʃtaʊ̯]
Letters4
Frequency rank#7,819
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Stau“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Stauliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „speed“ (#7,818), „suchten“ (#7,820), „seltene“ (#7,817). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „Stau“ bei #7,819. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around Stau (IPA [ʃtaʊ̯]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,819 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for Stau, with forms such as "satu", "sstau", and "sttau". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ste", "STK", "StB", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is Stau, spelled S-T-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    durch eine Behinderung oder ein Hindernis verursachte Störung des Durchflusses oder Durchgangs; Nomen acti: Ergebnis des Stauens
  2. 2
    schwere Behinderung auf Transportwegen mit der Folge: „stehender/stockender Verkehr“
  3. 3
    gestiegener Wasserstand/Pegel wegen eines Hindernisses
  4. 4
    hoher Wasserstand während der Stauzeit
  5. 5
    große Mengen Luft, die sich vor einem Gebirge auftürmen
  6. 6
    Anlage zum Aufstauen großer Wassermengen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Knapp nach Geschäftsbeginn entstand an den Drehkreuzen ein Stau.
  2. Nach einem Unfall auf der Autobahn 1 standen hunderte Autos im Stau.

Synonyms

HemmungStauungStockungVerkehrsstauWasserstauStauwasser

Antonyms

Öffnung

This word in other languages

congestion(English)atasco(Español)bouchon(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • satu
  • sstau
  • sttau
  • stua
  • tsau

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Stau - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

satu2sstau1sttau1stua2tsau2
Edit distance from "Stau"

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 "Stau"?
"Stau" is spelled S-T-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is [ʃtaʊ̯].
What does "Stau" mean?
As a noun, "Stau" means: durch eine Behinderung oder ein Hindernis verursachte Störung des Durchflusses oder Durchgangs; Nomen acti: Ergebnis des Stauens
What words are commonly confused with "Stau"?
"Stau" is commonly confused with "ste", "STK", "StB". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Stau"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Stau" is [ʃtaʊ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Stau" come from?
"Stau" 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 "Stau", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Seen#7,816Ruhr#7,804pour#7,799weis#7,848

Similar misspelling depth

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

Jude5 variantsIris5 variantsaufm5 variantsGabe5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list