steam

[stiːm]

/[stiːm]/ noun

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

The verdict

“steam” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #9,809. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,809
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dunst, der von einer Flüssigkeit aufsteigt; Dampf

Corpus desk

Index DE-steam · steam · German

steam · rank #9,809 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,809
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Stanley

Nearest frequency peer: Stanley (-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 „steam“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „steam“ 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).

steam vs steh
60% similar
steam vs Steg
40% similar
steam vs step
60% similar

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

Key facts for steam
PropertyValue
Headwordsteam
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[stiːm]
Letters5
Frequency rank#9,809
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „steam“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).steamliegt 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: „Stanley“ (#9,808), „stehlen“ (#9,810), „stabile“ (#9,807). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „steam“ bei #9,809. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around steam (IPA [stiːm]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,809 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for steam, with forms such as "setam", "ssteam", and "staem". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "steh", "Steg", "step", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is steam, spelled S-T-E-A-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dunst, der von einer Flüssigkeit aufsteigt; Dampf
  2. 2
    Wasserdampf
  3. 3
    Druck, der durch aufgestauten Dampf aufgebaut wird; Dampfdruck
  4. 4
    ein Fahrzeug (Zug oder Schiff), das durch Dampf betrieben wird; Dampfer
  5. 5
    Fahrt oder Reise auf einem von Dampf betriebenen Fahrzeug
  6. 6
    Kraft, Energie
  7. 7
    Spannung

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. My grandmother's house was heated by steam.
  2. The recently erupted Icelandic vulcano only emits steam.

Synonyms

vapourvapor

This word in other languages

vapeur(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • setam
  • ssteam
  • staem
  • steamm
  • stema
  • stteam
  • tseam

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

setam2ssteam1staem2steamm1stema2stteam1tseam2
Edit distance from "steam"

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 "steam"?
"steam" is spelled S-T-E-A-M. The IPA pronunciation is [stiːm].
What does "steam" mean?
As a noun, "steam" means: Dunst, der von einer Flüssigkeit aufsteigt; Dampf
What words are commonly confused with "steam"?
"steam" is commonly confused with "steh", "Steg", "step". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "steam"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "steam" is [stiːm]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "steam" come from?
"steam" 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 "steam", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Syrer#9,812Teich#9,816print#9,790other#9,787

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Optik7 variantsnimmer7 variantsMilde7 variantsmarina7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list