Telefon

[ˈteːləfoːn]

/[ˈteːləfoːn]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Telefon” has 10 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #1,491. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,491
frequency rank, German
2,684
“T” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Gerät zur Übermittlung akustischer Signale über große Entfernungen

Corpus desk

Index DE-telefon · Telefon · German

Telefon · rank #1,491 · 10 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,491
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,684
  • PHOTO-FINISH Szene

Nearest frequency peer: Szene (-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 „Telefon“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „Telefon“ 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).

Telefon vs Telekom
71% similar
Telefon vs Telefone
88% similar
Telefon vs Telefons
88% similar

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

Key facts for Telefon
PropertyValue
HeadwordTelefon
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈteːləfoːn]
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,491
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Telefon“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Telefonliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Szene“ (#1,490), „trinken“ (#1,492), „ruhig“ (#1,489). Unter 2,684 „T“-Lemmata liegt „Telefon“ bei #1,491. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around Telefon (IPA [ˈteːləfoːn]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,491 among 2,684 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for Telefon, with forms such as "etlefon", "teelfon", and "teleffon". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "Telekom", "Telefone", "Telefons", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is Telefon, spelled T-E-L-E-F-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Gerät zur Übermittlung akustischer Signale über große Entfernungen
  2. 2
    Anschluss an das Telefonnetz

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Mensch, geh doch mal ans Telefon!
  2. „Beim Klingeln des Telefons hoffte ich einen Augenblick lang, es könnte Marie sein.“

Synonyms

FernsprecherFernsprechgerätFernsprechapparatTelefonapparatTelefonanschluss

Antonyms

MegafonRadioTelegraph

This word in other languages

telephone(English)teléfono(Español)téléphone(Français)telefone(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etlefon
  • teelfon
  • teleffon
  • telefno
  • telefonn
  • teleofn
  • telfeon
  • tellefon
  • tleefon
  • ttelefon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

etlefon2teelfon2teleffon1telefno2telefonn1teleofn2telfeon2tellefon1
Edit distance from "Telefon"

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 "Telefon"?
"Telefon" is spelled T-E-L-E-F-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈteːləfoːn].
What does "Telefon" mean?
As a noun, "Telefon" means: Gerät zur Übermittlung akustischer Signale über große Entfernungen
What words are commonly confused with "Telefon"?
"Telefon" is commonly confused with "Telekom", "Telefone", "Telefons". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Telefon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Telefon" is [ˈteːləfoːn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Telefon" come from?
"Telefon" 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 "Telefon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

trinken#1,492enthält#1,474brauche#1,470jährige#1,516

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

erinnern10 variantslängst10 variantssprach10 variantspositiv10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list