verschanzen

[fɛɐ̯ˈʃant͡sn̩]

/[fɛɐ̯ˈʃant͡sn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“verschanzen” is an uncommon German word, ranked #74,133 in German word frequency and used as a verb.

#74,133
frequency rank, German
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - sich zum Schutz in eine Deckung bringen; sich (wie in einer Schanze) befestigen, sich eingraben

Key facts for verschanzen
PropertyValue
Headwordverschanzen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[fɛɐ̯ˈʃant͡sn̩]
Letters11
Frequency rank#74,133
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “verschanzen” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). verschanzen lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for verschanzen is 11 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [fɛɐ̯ˈʃant͡sn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #74,133 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "sich zum Schutz in eine Deckung bringen; sich (wie in einer Schanze) befestigen, sich eingraben".

No generated misspelling entries exist for verschanzen in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is verschanzen, spelled V-E-R-S-C-H-A-N-Z-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    sich zum Schutz in eine Deckung bringen; sich (wie in einer Schanze) befestigen, sich eingraben

This word in other languages

entrench(English)atrincherarse(Español)se retrancher(Français)

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 "verschanzen"?
"verschanzen" is spelled V-E-R-S-C-H-A-N-Z-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃant͡sn̩].
What does "verschanzen" mean?
As a verb, "verschanzen" means: sich zum Schutz in eine Deckung bringen; sich (wie in einer Schanze) befestigen, sich eingraben
How do you pronounce "verschanzen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "verschanzen" is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃant͡sn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "verschanzen" come from?
"verschanzen" 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.

Using “verschanzen”

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

  • The one correct German spelling is V-E-R-S-C-H-A-N-Z-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [fɛɐ̯ˈʃant͡sn̩] (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
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