Stern

[ʃtɛʁn]

/[ʃtɛʁn]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Stern” has 8 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #2,617. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,617
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - massereiche, selbst leuchtende Gaskugel, Himmelskörper

Corpus desk

Index DE-stern · Stern · German

Stern · rank #2,617 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,617
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH startet

Nearest frequency peer: startet (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “Stern”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “Stern” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

Stern vs Sven
60% similar
Stern vs stur
40% similar
Stern vs Strg
60% similar

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

Key facts for Stern
PropertyValue
HeadwordStern
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ʃtɛʁn]
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,617
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “Stern” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Sternliegt hier:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „startet“ (#2,616), „sämtliche“ (#2,618), „Tiefe“ (#2,619). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around Stern (IPA [ʃtɛʁn]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,617 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for Stern, with forms such as "setrn", "sstern", and "stenr". 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, "Sven", "stur", "Strg", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Stern, spelled S-T-E-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    massereiche, selbst leuchtende Gaskugel, Himmelskörper
  2. 2
    jeder Himmelskörper, der dem bloßen Auge punktförmig erscheint
  3. 3
    mehrstrahliges oder mehrzackiges Symbol oder Arrangement
  4. 4
    Kosebezeichnung für einen geliebten oder verehrten Menschen
  5. 5
    Malzeichen auf der Tastatur
  6. 6
    Heck eines Bootes, Schiffes

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Proxima Centauri ist der nächste Stern.
  2. Die Sterne leuchten heute besonders hell.

Synonyms

FixsternSonneGestirnStarAsteriskSternchen

Antonyms

MondPlanetHerzKreuzBuchstabenKlammeraffeOperatorQuerstrichZahl

This word in other languages

star(English)estrella(Español)étoile(Français)estrela(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • setrn
  • sstern
  • stenr
  • sternn
  • sterrn
  • stren
  • sttern
  • tsern

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

setrn2sstern1stenr2sternn1sterrn1stren2sttern1tsern2
Edit distance from "Stern"

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 "Stern"?
"Stern" is spelled S-T-E-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ʃtɛʁn].
What does "Stern" mean?
As a noun, "Stern" means: massereiche, selbst leuchtende Gaskugel, Himmelskörper
What words are commonly confused with "Stern"?
"Stern" is commonly confused with "Sven", "stur", "Strg". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Stern"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Stern" is [ʃtɛʁn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Stern" come from?
"Stern" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "Stern", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Tiefe#2,619wohin#2,630Kreuz#2,603Wolle#2,631

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Philipp8 variantshierzu8 variantsbeides8 variantsKriege8 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "Stern". Here's where to go from here.

  • "Stern" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Sven". View pair
  • 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #2,617 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list