zünden

[ˈt͡sʏndn̩]

/[ˈt͡sʏndn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“zünden” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #17,788. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,788
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
13
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - etwas in Brand stecken oder einen Verbrennungsprozess in Gang setzen

Corpus desk

Index DE-zunden · zünden · German

zünden · rank #17,788 · 9 variants · 13 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #17,788
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 13 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH zweierlei

Nearest frequency peer: zweierlei (-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 „zünden“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „zünden“ 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).

zünden vs Zunge
33% similar
zünden vs Zungen
50% similar
zünden vs zündet
83% similar

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

Key facts for zünden
PropertyValue
Headwordzünden
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈt͡sʏndn̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#17,788
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „zünden“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).zündenliegt 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: „zweierlei“ (#17,787), „äquivalent“ (#17,789), „Zustellung“ (#17,786). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „zünden“ bei #17,788. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around zünden (IPA [ˈt͡sʏndn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #17,788 among 1,996 “Z” headwords. Dominant gloss: "etwas in Brand stecken oder einen Verbrennungsprozess in Gang setzen".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for zünden, with forms such as "znüden", "zzünden", and "züdnen". 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 13 confusable-pair relationships, "Zunge", "Zungen", "zündet", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is zünden, spelled Z-Ü-N-D-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas in Brand stecken oder einen Verbrennungsprozess in Gang setzen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Laut einem Bericht der Nachrichtenagentur SDA hatten Linksaktivisten Feuerwerkskörper gezündet.
  2. Er [Fabian] zündete sich eilig eine Zigarette an und rief den Kellner. „Womit kann ich dienen?“ fragte der. […]

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • znüden
  • zzünden
  • züdnen
  • zündden
  • zündenn
  • zündne
  • zünedn
  • zünnden
  • üznden

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of zünden - 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.

znüden2zzünden1züdnen2zündden1zündenn1zündne2zünedn2zünnden1
Edit distance from "zünden"

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 "zünden"?
"zünden" is spelled Z-Ü-N-D-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡sʏndn̩].
What does "zünden" mean?
As a verb, "zünden" means: etwas in Brand stecken oder einen Verbrennungsprozess in Gang setzen
What words are commonly confused with "zünden"?
"zünden" is commonly confused with "Zunge", "Zungen", "zündet". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "zünden"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zünden" is [ˈt͡sʏndn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zünden" come from?
"zünden" 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 "zünden", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list