waten

[ˈvaːtn̩]

/[ˈvaːtn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“waten” is uncommon German (frequency #79,927 among 2,930 “W” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#79,927
frequency rank, German
2,930
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - im Wasser oder auf nachgebendem Untergrund langsam gehen, wobei die Beine bei jedem Schritt nacheinander angehoben werden

Corpus desk

Index DE-waten · waten · German

waten · rank #79,927 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #79,927
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,930
  • PHOTO-FINISH Wasserschlauch

Nearest frequency peer: Wasserschlauch (-2 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 „waten“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for waten
PropertyValue
Headwordwaten
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈvaːtn̩]
Letters5
Frequency rank#79,927
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „waten“ im Deutschen

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).watenfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Wasserschlauch“ (#79,925), „wegzuräumen“ (#79,929), „Wasserflächen“ (#79,924). Unter 2,930 „W“-Lemmata liegt „waten“ bei #79,927. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

waten is uncommon German at frequency #79,927 among 2,930 “W” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈvaːtn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "im Wasser oder auf nachgebendem Untergrund langsam gehen, wobei die Beine bei jedem Schritt nacheinander angehoben werden".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for waten, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is waten, spelled W-A-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    im Wasser oder auf nachgebendem Untergrund langsam gehen, wobei die Beine bei jedem Schritt nacheinander angehoben werden

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Huett watet in Gummistiefeln durch den tiefen Matsch eines Reisfeldes.
  2. …; und während sie herumlärmen und übereinanderstolpern, wie sie es immer machen, schleichen wir uns in den Bach, der hinter dem Hause läuft, und waten in ihm fort, bis wir der Hintertür gegenüber kommen.

Synonyms

Antonyms

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 "waten"?
"waten" is spelled W-A-T-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈvaːtn̩].
What does "waten" mean?
As a verb, "waten" means: im Wasser oder auf nachgebendem Untergrund langsam gehen, wobei die Beine bei jedem Schritt nacheinander angehoben werden
How do you pronounce "waten"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "waten" is [ˈvaːtn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "waten" come from?
"waten" 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 "waten", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list