Tee

[teː]

/[teː]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Tee” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #2,924) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#2,924
frequency rank, German
2,684
“T” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - koffeinhaltiges, aus mit heißem Wasser übergossenen Teeblättern gewonnenes Getränk

Corpus desk

Index DE-tee · Tee · German

Tee · rank #2,924 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,924
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,684
  • PHOTO-FINISH Summe

Nearest frequency peer: Summe (-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 “Tee”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “Tee” 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).

Tee vs TO
33% similar
Tee vs TV
33% similar
Tee vs tu
0% similar

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

Key facts for Tee
PropertyValue
HeadwordTee
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[teː]
Letters3
Frequency rank#2,924
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Tee” sits in German frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).Tee lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Tee is neighbouring look-alikes ("TO", "TV", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [teː]. Frequency #2,924 among 2,684 “T” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Tee, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "TO", "TV", "tu", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is Tee, spelled T-E-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    koffeinhaltiges, aus mit heißem Wasser übergossenen Teeblättern gewonnenes Getränk
  2. 2
    getrocknete und fermentierte Blätter des Teestrauchs
  3. 3
    immergrüner ostasiatischer Busch mit weißen Blüten
  4. 4
    Getränkeaufguss aus getrockneten Teilen von Heilkräutern
  5. 5
    gesellige Stunde am Nachmittag

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Kaffee und Tee sind beliebte Getränke.
  2. „Schon in diesen Sätzen steckt die Gemütlichkeit, die den Tee vom eher hektisch getrunkenen Männergetränk Espresso heftigst unterscheidet.“

Synonyms

TeestrauchCamellia sinensis

This word in other languages

tea(English)té(Español)thé(Français)chá(Português)

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Tee"?
"Tee" is spelled T-E-E. The IPA pronunciation is [teː].
What does "Tee" mean?
As a noun, "Tee" means: koffeinhaltiges, aus mit heißem Wasser übergossenen Teeblättern gewonnenes Getränk
What words are commonly confused with "Tee"?
"Tee" is commonly confused with "TO", "TV", "tu". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Tee"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Tee" is [teː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Tee" come from?
"Tee" 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 "Tee", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

LKW#2,843ZDF#3,012GiB#2,828BMW#3,028

What to do next

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

  • "Tee" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "TO". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #2,924 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "T" letter cohort. T–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