zephyr
[ˈzefəʳ]
The verdict
“zephyr” is uncommon German (frequency #83,553 among 37,643 “Z” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #83,553
- frequency rank, German
- 37,643
- “Z” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - ein feuchtwarmer Westwind im Mittelmeerraum
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | zephyr |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈzefəʳ] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #83,553 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “zephyr” sits in German frequency
Rare enough to double-check
zephyr is uncommon German at frequency #83,553 among 37,643 “Z” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈzefəʳ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for zephyr, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is zephyr, spelled Z-E-P-H-Y-R.
Definition
- 1ein feuchtwarmer Westwind im Mittelmeerraum
- 2Westwind, warmer milder Westwind
- 3eine leichte Brise, ein laues Lüftchen
- 4leichtes Gewebe, leichter Baumwollstoff, leichtes Garn (Zephyrgarn), leichte Kleidungsstücke
- 5etwas, das luftig, unwirklich, vergehend ist
- 6Der "Chinook" (West-Föhn der Rocky Mountains) wird im US-Bundesstaat Colorado gelegentlich auch als "zephyr" bezeichnet. Neben "zephyr" ist in Colorado für den Westföhn jedoch auch die Bezeichnung "Pacific wind" gebräuchlich.
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
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Using “zephyr”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is Z-E-P-H-Y-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈzefəʳ] (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
Other uncommon German words near this rank
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.