treiben

[ˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩]

/[ˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“treiben” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #3,081. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,081
frequency rank, German
2,684
“T” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
16
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Personen oder Tiere dazu bringen, sich in eine bestimmte Richtung zu bewegen

Corpus desk

Index DE-treiben · treiben · German

treiben · rank #3,081 · 9 variants · 16 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,081
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 16 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,684
  • PHOTO-FINISH Süd

Nearest frequency peer: Süd (-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 „treiben“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „treiben“ 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).

treiben vs treten
71% similar
treiben vs treibt
71% similar
treiben vs Treuen
57% similar

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

Key facts for treiben
PropertyValue
Headwordtreiben
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩]
Letters7
Frequency rank#3,081
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs16
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „treiben“

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Süd“ (#3,080), „Turnier“ (#3,082), „Stücke“ (#3,079). Unter 2,684 „T“-Lemmata liegt „treiben“ bei #3,081. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around treiben (IPA [ˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #3,081 among 2,684 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for treiben, with forms such as "rteiben", "teriben", and "trebien". 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 16 confusable-pair relationships, "treten", "treibt", "Treuen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is treiben, spelled T-R-E-I-B-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Personen oder Tiere dazu bringen, sich in eine bestimmte Richtung zu bewegen
  2. 2
    (Blüten und so weiter, auch medizinisch) physiologische Reaktionen hervorbringen
  3. 3
    Triebe hervorbringen
  4. 4
    Pflanzen zum Austreiben bringen
  5. 5
    sich passiv mit der Strömung fortbewegen
  6. 6
    etwas passiv Schwimmendes transportieren
  7. 7
    anderes Wort für tun
  8. 8
    (Blech) in eine bestimmte Form hämmern
  9. 9
    den Geschlechtsverkehr ausüben
  10. 10
    (Technik) in Bewegung versetzen oder halten

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sie trieben die Gefangenen in eine Scheune.
  2. Du treibst mich noch in den Wahnsinn.

Synonyms

scheuchenhervorbringenausschlagenheranziehenzüchtenflößenschwemmenspülenausüben

Antonyms

einziehen

This word in other languages

drive(English)conducir(Español)guider(Français)conduzir(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • rteiben
  • teriben
  • trebien
  • treibben
  • treibenn
  • treibne
  • treiebn
  • trreiben
  • ttreiben

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

rteiben2teriben2trebien2treibben1treibenn1treibne2treiebn2trreiben1
Edit distance from "treiben"

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 "treiben"?
"treiben" is spelled T-R-E-I-B-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩].
What does "treiben" mean?
As a verb, "treiben" means: Personen oder Tiere dazu bringen, sich in eine bestimmte Richtung zu bewegen
What words are commonly confused with "treiben"?
"treiben" is commonly confused with "treten", "treibt", "Treuen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "treiben"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "treiben" is [ˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "treiben" come from?
"treiben" 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.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "treiben", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Turnier#3,082Vereine#3,088schwach#3,073Vorbild#3,090

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Stücke9 variantsRunden9 variantsZucker9 variantsArchiv9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list