Zirkus

[ˈt͡sɪʁkʊs]

/[ˈt͡sɪʁkʊs]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Zirkus” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #9,305. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,305
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - großes Zelt oder Gebäude, in dem Tierdressuren und Ähnliches gezeigt werden

Corpus desk

Index DE-zirkus · Zirkus · German

Zirkus · rank #9,305 · 9 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,305
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH zehnten

Nearest frequency peer: zehnten (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Zirkus“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Zirkus“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Zirkus vs zirka
50% similar
Zirkus vs Zirkel
67% similar
Zirkus vs Circus
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Zirkus
PropertyValue
HeadwordZirkus
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈt͡sɪʁkʊs]
Letters6
Frequency rank#9,305
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Zirkus“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Zirkusliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „zehnten“ (#9,304), „Zubehör“ (#9,306), „Zauber“ (#9,303). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „Zirkus“ bei #9,305. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around Zirkus (IPA [ˈt͡sɪʁkʊs]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,305 among 1,996 “Z” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Zirkus, with forms such as "izrkus", "zikrus", and "zirkkus". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "zirka", "Zirkel", "Circus", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Zirkus, spelled Z-I-R-K-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    großes Zelt oder Gebäude, in dem Tierdressuren und Ähnliches gezeigt werden
  2. 2
    Trubel, Durcheinander
  3. 3
    Unternehmen mit unterhaltsamen Clowns, Akrobaten und Tierdressuren
  4. 4
    kreisförmige Rennbahn

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Im Zirkus findet die Vorstellung statt, aber draußen gibt es auch jede Menge zu sehen.
  2. „Als Junge war ich mal im Zirkus.“

This word in other languages

circus(English)circo(Español)cirque(Français)circo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • izrkus
  • zikrus
  • zirkkus
  • zirksu
  • zirkuss
  • zirrkus
  • ziruks
  • zrikus
  • zzirkus

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Zirkus - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

izrkus2zikrus2zirkkus1zirksu2zirkuss1zirrkus1ziruks2zrikus2
Edit distance from "Zirkus"

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 "Zirkus"?
"Zirkus" is spelled Z-I-R-K-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡sɪʁkʊs].
What does "Zirkus" mean?
As a noun, "Zirkus" means: großes Zelt oder Gebäude, in dem Tierdressuren und Ähnliches gezeigt werden
What words are commonly confused with "Zirkus"?
"Zirkus" is commonly confused with "zirka", "Zirkel", "Circus". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Zirkus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Zirkus" is [ˈt͡sɪʁkʊs]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Zirkus" come from?
"Zirkus" 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 "Zirkus", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Zauber#9,303zwecks#9,308Abriss#9,314Absage#9,315

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Tische9 variantsdrohte9 variantsSammler9 variantsriechen9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list