thou shalt not kill

[ðaʊ ʃælt nɒt ˈkɪl]

/[ðaʊ ʃælt nɒt ˈkɪl]/ phrase

The verdict

“thou shalt not kill” is outside the top-ranked German vocabulary, used as a phrase - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
19
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) — archaische oder poetische Form von „du sollst nicht töten” (das sechste Gebot aus dem Alten Testament)

Key facts for thou shalt not kill
PropertyValue
Headwordthou shalt not kill
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[ðaʊ ʃælt nɒt ˈkɪl]
Letters19
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “thou shalt not kill” sits in German frequency

thou shalt not kill 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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for thou shalt not kill is 19 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ðaʊ ʃælt nɒt ˈkɪl]. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "archaische oder poetische Form von „du sollst nicht töten” (das sechste Gebot aus dem Alten Testament)".

No misspelling variants are generated for thou shalt not kill in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is thou shalt not kill, spelled T-H-O-U- -S-H-A-L-T- -N-O-T- -K-I-L-L, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    archaische oder poetische Form von „du sollst nicht töten” (das sechste Gebot aus dem Alten Testament)

Synonyms

the sixth commandmentyou shall not murder

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.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “thou shalt not kill, German word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/de/wort/thou-shalt-not-kill

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "thou shalt not kill"?
"thou shalt not kill" is spelled T-H-O-U- -S-H-A-L-T- -N-O-T- -K-I-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ðaʊ ʃælt nɒt ˈkɪl].
What does "thou shalt not kill" mean?
As a phrase, "thou shalt not kill" means: archaische oder poetische Form von „du sollst nicht töten” (das sechste Gebot aus dem Alten Testament)
How do you pronounce "thou shalt not kill"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "thou shalt not kill" is [ðaʊ ʃælt nɒt ˈkɪl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "thou shalt not kill" come from?
"thou shalt not kill" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “thou shalt not kill”

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

  • The one correct German spelling is T-H-O-U- -S-H-A-L-T- -N-O-T- -K-I-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ðaʊ ʃælt nɒt ˈkɪl] (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

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter T in our German index:

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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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list