zähmen

[ˈt͡sɛːmən]

/[ˈt͡sɛːmən]/ verb

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

The verdict

“zähmen” is uncommon German (frequency #50,224 among 1,996 “Z” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,224
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (Tiere) an den Menschen gewöhnen

Corpus desk

Index DE-zahmen · zähmen · German

zähmen · rank #50,224 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,224
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH Zwietracht

Nearest frequency peer: Zwietracht (-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 „zähmen“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for zähmen
PropertyValue
Headwordzähmen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈt͡sɛːmən]
Letters6
Frequency rank#50,224
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „zähmen“ im Deutschen

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

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Zwietracht“ (#50,223), „züchtet“ (#50,225), „zweitägigen“ (#50,222). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „zähmen“ bei #50,224. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

zähmen is uncommon German at frequency #50,224 among 1,996 “Z” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [ˈt͡sɛːmən]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for zähmen, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is zähmen, spelled Z-Ä-H-M-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    (Tiere) an den Menschen gewöhnen
  2. 2
    etwas beherrschbar machen; etwas in seine Gewalt bringen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die wilden Pferde zu zähmen scheint unmöglich.
  2. Der wilde Strom wurde durch Eingriffe des Menschen gezähmt.

This word in other languages

tame(English)domar(Español)apprivoiser(Français)

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 "zähmen"?
"zähmen" is spelled Z-Ä-H-M-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡sɛːmən].
What does "zähmen" mean?
As a verb, "zähmen" means: (Tiere) an den Menschen gewöhnen
How do you pronounce "zähmen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zähmen" is [ˈt͡sɛːmən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zähmen" come from?
"zähmen" 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 "zähmen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

abnahm#50,244annual#50,263vulgär#50,178Arnaud#50,278

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list