summen

[ˈzʊmən]

/[ˈzʊmən]/ verb

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

The verdict

“summen” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #8,791. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,791
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ohne Text, meist mit geschlossenen Lippen, die Melodie zu einem Lied von sich geben

Corpus desk

Index DE-summen · summen · German

summen · rank #8,791 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,791
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Suite

Nearest frequency peer: Suite (-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 „summen“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „summen“ 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).

summen vs summer
83% similar
summen vs Sünden
33% similar
summen vs surfen
67% similar

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

Key facts for summen
PropertyValue
Headwordsummen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈzʊmən]
Letters6
Frequency rank#8,791
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „summen“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).summenliegt 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: „Suite“ (#8,790), „syrischen“ (#8,792), „stützen“ (#8,789). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „summen“ bei #8,791. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around summen (IPA [ˈzʊmən]), averb. Corpus frequency is #8,791 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for summen, with forms such as "smumen", "ssummen", and "sumemn". 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, "summer", "Sünden", "surfen", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is summen, spelled S-U-M-M-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    ohne Text, meist mit geschlossenen Lippen, die Melodie zu einem Lied von sich geben
  2. 2
    etwas (leise) vor sich hin singen
  3. 3
    Geräusche ähnlich denen eines fliegenden Insekts machen
  4. 4
    mit für ein Insekt typischen Geräuschen fliegen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Voll Freude summte sie eine wunderschöne Melodie.
  2. Während der Sänger den Refrain sang, summte der Chor im Hintergrund den Text mit.

Synonyms

möönensingenträllern

This word in other languages

hum(English)zumbar(Español)bourdonner(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • smumen
  • ssummen
  • sumemn
  • sumen
  • summenn
  • summne
  • usmmen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

smumen2ssummen1sumemn2sumen1summenn1summne2usmmen2
Edit distance from "summen"

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 "summen"?
"summen" is spelled S-U-M-M-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈzʊmən].
What does "summen" mean?
As a verb, "summen" means: ohne Text, meist mit geschlossenen Lippen, die Melodie zu einem Lied von sich geben
What words are commonly confused with "summen"?
"summen" is commonly confused with "summer", "Sünden", "surfen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "summen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "summen" is [ˈzʊmən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "summen" come from?
"summen" 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 "summen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Streik#8,788Thesen#8,796totale#8,798Simone#8,783

Similar misspelling depth

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

weint7 variantsRoller7 variantsAmtes7 variantsLaser7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list