zum

[t͡sʊm]

/[t͡sʊm]/ abbrev

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

The verdict

“zum” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #52) as an abbreviation. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#52
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Kurzform von „zu dem“

Corpus desk

Index DE-zum · zum · German

zum · rank #52 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #52
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH einer

Nearest frequency peer: einer (-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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „zum“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „zum“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

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).

zum vs zur
67% similar
zum vs zwo
33% similar
zum vs zumal
60% similar

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

Key facts for zum
PropertyValue
Headwordzum
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAbbreviation
IPA[t͡sʊm]
Letters3
Frequency rank#52
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „zum“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).zumliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „einer“ (#51), „kann“ (#53), „Haben“ (#50). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „zum“ bei #52. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for zum is neighbouring look-alikes ("zur", "zwo", …), not just typos; it is anabbreviation pronounced [t͡sʊm]. Frequency #52 among 1,996 “Z” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Zero misspellings are on record for zum in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular German conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "zur", "zwo", "zumal", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No documented word history exists 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 zum, spelled Z-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Kurzform von „zu dem“
  2. 2
    Kurzform von „zu einem“

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Die Straße führt zum Rathaus der Stadt.
  2. Ich brauche die Brille zum Lesen.

This word in other languages

to the(English)al(Español)au(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 "zum"?
"zum" is spelled Z-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is [t͡sʊm].
What does "zum" mean?
As an abbreviation, "zum" means: Kurzform von „zu dem“
What words are commonly confused with "zum"?
"zum" is commonly confused with "zur", "zwo", "zumal". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "zum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zum" is [t͡sʊm]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zum" come from?
"zum" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "zum", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

man#48was#44mir#62nur#40

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list