was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht

/[vas deːɐ̯ ˈbaʊ̯ɐ nɪçt kɛnt fʁɪst eːɐ̯ nɪçt]/ phrase

The verdict

“was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht” 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
42
letters

Dominant Wiktionary sense: jemand ist Neuem gegenüber nicht aufgeschlossen und bevorzugt das, mit dem er vertraut ist

Key facts for was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht
PropertyValue
Headwordwas der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPhrase
IPA[vas deːɐ̯ ˈbaʊ̯ɐ nɪçt kɛnt fʁɪst eːɐ̯ nɪçt]
Letters42
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht” sits in German frequency

was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht 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 was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht is 42 letters long, classified as a phrase, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [vas deːɐ̯ ˈbaʊ̯ɐ nɪçt kɛnt fʁɪst eːɐ̯ nɪçt]. 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: "jemand ist Neuem gegenüber nicht aufgeschlossen und bevorzugt das, mit dem er vertraut ist".

No misspelling variants are generated for was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht 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 was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht, spelled W-A-S- -D-E-R- -B-A-U-E-R- -N-I-C-H-T- -K-E-N-N-T-,- -F-R-I-S-S-T- -E-R- -N-I-C-H-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    jemand ist Neuem gegenüber nicht aufgeschlossen und bevorzugt das, mit dem er vertraut ist

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, “was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht, 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/was-der-bauer-nicht-kennt-frisst-er-nicht

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht"?
"was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht" is spelled W-A-S- -D-E-R- -B-A-U-E-R- -N-I-C-H-T- -K-E-N-N-T-,- -F-R-I-S-S-T- -E-R- -N-I-C-H-T. The IPA pronunciation is [vas deːɐ̯ ˈbaʊ̯ɐ nɪçt kɛnt fʁɪst eːɐ̯ nɪçt].
What does "was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht" mean?
As a phrase, "was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht" means: jemand ist Neuem gegenüber nicht aufgeschlossen und bevorzugt das, mit dem er vertraut ist
How do you pronounce "was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht" is [vas deːɐ̯ ˈbaʊ̯ɐ nɪçt kɛnt fʁɪst eːɐ̯ nɪçt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht" come from?
"was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht" 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 “was der Bauer nicht kennt, frisst er nicht”

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

  • The one correct German spelling is W-A-S- -D-E-R- -B-A-U-E-R- -N-I-C-H-T- -K-E-N-N-T-,- -F-R-I-S-S-T- -E-R- -N-I-C-H-T — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [vas deːɐ̯ ˈbaʊ̯ɐ nɪçt kɛnt fʁɪst eːɐ̯ nɪçt] (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 W 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