summa cum laude

[ˌzʊma kʊm ˈlaʊ̯də]

/[ˌzʊma kʊm ˈlaʊ̯də]/ adv

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

The verdict

“summa cum laude” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - das höchste Prädikat bei einer bundesdeutschen Promotionsprüfung, sehr gut mit Auszeichnung

Key facts for summa cum laude
PropertyValue
Headwordsumma cum laude
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdverb
IPA[ˌzʊma kʊm ˈlaʊ̯də]
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “summa cum laude” sits in German frequency

summa cum laude falls outside the top-100,000 ranked German words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

summa cum laude is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed [ˌzʊma kʊm ˈlaʊ̯də]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "das höchste Prädikat bei einer bundesdeutschen Promotionsprüfung, sehr gut mit Auszeichnung".

summa cum laude doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No explicit etymology string is stored 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 summa cum laude, spelled S-U-M-M-A- -C-U-M- -L-A-U-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    das höchste Prädikat bei einer bundesdeutschen Promotionsprüfung, sehr gut mit Auszeichnung

Synonyms

sehr gut mit Auszeichnung

Antonyms

ritecum laudemagna cum laude

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "summa cum laude"?
"summa cum laude" is spelled S-U-M-M-A- -C-U-M- -L-A-U-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˌzʊma kʊm ˈlaʊ̯də].
What does "summa cum laude" mean?
As an adverb, "summa cum laude" means: das höchste Prädikat bei einer bundesdeutschen Promotionsprüfung, sehr gut mit Auszeichnung
How do you pronounce "summa cum laude"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "summa cum laude" is [ˌzʊma kʊm ˈlaʊ̯də]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "summa cum laude" come from?
"summa cum laude" 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.

Using “summa cum laude”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is S-U-M-M-A- -C-U-M- -L-A-U-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ˌzʊma kʊm ˈlaʊ̯də] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
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