wichen

[ˈvɪçn̩]

/[ˈvɪçn̩]/ verb

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

The verdict

“wichen” is uncommon German (frequency #51,838 among 2,930 “W” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,838
frequency rank, German
2,930
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs weichen

Corpus desk

Index DE-wichen · wichen · German

wichen · rank #51,838 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,838
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,930
  • PHOTO-FINISH Whistler

Nearest frequency peer: Whistler (-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 „wichen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for wichen
PropertyValue
Headwordwichen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈvɪçn̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#51,838
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „wichen“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Whistler“ (#51,837), „widerliches“ (#51,839), „widersetzte“ (#51,840). Unter 2,930 „W“-Lemmata liegt „wichen“ bei #51,838. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

wichen is uncommon German at frequency #51,838 among 2,930 “W” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈvɪçn̩]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for wichen in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is wichen, spelled W-I-C-H-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs weichen
  2. 2
    3. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs weichen
  3. 3
    1. Person Plural Konjunktiv Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs weichen
  4. 4
    3. Person Plural Konjunktiv Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs weichen

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 "wichen"?
"wichen" is spelled W-I-C-H-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈvɪçn̩].
What does "wichen" mean?
As a verb, "wichen" means: 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs weichen
How do you pronounce "wichen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wichen" is [ˈvɪçn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "wichen" come from?
"wichen" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "wichen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Wismut#51,846wannen#51,827Yakuza#51,853zinnen#51,861

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list