Wachtel

[ˈvaxtl̩]

/[ˈvaxtl̩]/ noun

The verdict

“Wachtel” is uncommon German (frequency #62,992 among 2,930 “W” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#62,992
frequency rank, German
2,930
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - kleiner Hühnervogel mit kurzem Schwanz und braunem, auf der Oberseite oft gelblich und schwarz gestreiftem Gefieder

Corpus desk

Index DE-wachtel · Wachtel · German

Wachtel · rank #62,992 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #62,992
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,930
  • PHOTO-FINISH Vorstädte

Nearest frequency peer: Vorstädte (-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.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Wachtel“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Wachtel“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Wachtel
PropertyValue
HeadwordWachtel
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈvaxtl̩]
Letters7
Frequency rank#62,992
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Wachtel“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Wachtelfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Vorstädte“ (#62,991), „vorsingen“ (#62,990), „Vorposten“ (#62,989). Unter 2,930 „W“-Lemmata liegt „Wachtel“ bei #62,992. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Wachtel is uncommon German at frequency #62,992 among 2,930 “W” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈvaxtl̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "kleiner Hühnervogel mit kurzem Schwanz und braunem, auf der Oberseite oft gelblich und schwarz gestreiftem Gefieder".

Wachtel has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Wachtel, spelled W-A-C-H-T-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    kleiner Hühnervogel mit kurzem Schwanz und braunem, auf der Oberseite oft gelblich und schwarz gestreiftem Gefieder

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Wachteln gelten bei Gourmets sowohl wegen ihrer Eier als auch wegen ihres Fleisches als Delikatesse.
  2. „Die Wachteln waren weg, einfach weg.“

Synonyms

Coturnix coturnix

This word in other languages

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 "Wachtel"?
"Wachtel" is spelled W-A-C-H-T-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈvaxtl̩].
What does "Wachtel" mean?
As a noun, "Wachtel" means: kleiner Hühnervogel mit kurzem Schwanz und braunem, auf der Oberseite oft gelblich und schwarz gestreiftem Gefieder
How do you pronounce "Wachtel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Wachtel" is [ˈvaxtl̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Wachtel" come from?
"Wachtel" 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 "Wachtel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list