Wal

[vaːl]

/[vaːl]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Wal” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #18,758) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#18,758
frequency rank, German
2,930
“W” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - oft sehr großes, im Wasser lebendes Säugetier (Ordnung Cetacea)

Corpus desk

Index DE-wal · Wal · German

Wal · rank #18,758 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,758
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,930
  • PHOTO-FINISH vorsichtiger

Nearest frequency peer: vorsichtiger (-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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „Wal“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „Wal“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

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).

Wal vs wo
0% similar
Wal vs WM
33% similar
Wal vs WE
33% similar

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

Key facts for Wal
PropertyValue
HeadwordWal
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[vaːl]
Letters3
Frequency rank#18,758
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „Wal“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Walliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „vorsichtiger“ (#18,757), „Warner“ (#18,759), „Vorreiter“ (#18,756). Unter 2,930 „W“-Lemmata liegt „Wal“ bei #18,758. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Wal is neighbouring look-alikes ("wo", "WM", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [vaːl]. Frequency #18,758 among 2,930 “W” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Wal, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "wo", "WM", "WE", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Wal, spelled W-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    oft sehr großes, im Wasser lebendes Säugetier (Ordnung Cetacea)
  2. 2
    Person, die für eine Sache (meist Onlinespiele, Glücksspiel oder ähnliches) extreme Summen an Geld ausgibt, teilweise bis zum finanziellen Ruin

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Wale sind die größten Säugetiere.
  2. Die meisten Wale sind vom Aussterben bedroht.

Synonyms

Walfisch

Antonyms

RobbeSeekuh

This word in other languages

whale(English)ballena(Español)baleine(Français)baleia(Português)

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 "Wal"?
"Wal" is spelled W-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is [vaːl].
What does "Wal" mean?
As a noun, "Wal" means: oft sehr großes, im Wasser lebendes Säugetier (Ordnung Cetacea)
What words are commonly confused with "Wal"?
"Wal" is commonly confused with "wo", "WM", "WE". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Wal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Wal" is [vaːl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Wal" come from?
"Wal" 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 "Wal", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Wil#18,762zäh#18,775öde#18,776tui#18,731

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list