Zwielicht

[ˈt͡sviːˌlɪçt]

/[ˈt͡sviːˌlɪçt]/ noun

The verdict

“Zwielicht” is uncommon German (frequency #52,613 among 1,996 “Z” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,613
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Licht, das sich in der Dämmerung einstellt

Corpus desk

Index DE-zwielicht · Zwielicht · German

Zwielicht · rank #52,613 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,613
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH zusammenschni…

Nearest frequency peer: zusammenschnitt (-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 „Zwielicht“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Zwielicht
PropertyValue
HeadwordZwielicht
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈt͡sviːˌlɪçt]
Letters9
Frequency rank#52,613
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Zwielicht“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Zwielichtfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „zusammenschnitt“ (#52,612), „zynischen“ (#52,614), „zurückrufen“ (#52,611). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „Zwielicht“ bei #52,613. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Zwielicht is uncommon German at frequency #52,613 among 1,996 “Z” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈt͡sviːˌlɪçt]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for Zwielicht in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is Zwielicht, spelled Z-W-I-E-L-I-C-H-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Licht, das sich in der Dämmerung einstellt
  2. 2
    Licht, das zustande kommt, wenn gleichzeitig unterschiedliche Lichtquellen wahrgenommen werden
  3. 3
    unklarer Zustand, der oftmals Formen der Illegalität andeutet

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Im Zwielicht kann man nicht gut lesen.
  2. Nachdem sich ihre Augen an das Zwielicht gewöhnt hatten, konnte sie das Scheunetor am anderen Ende des Sattelplatzes ausmachen.

This word in other languages

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 "Zwielicht"?
"Zwielicht" is spelled Z-W-I-E-L-I-C-H-T. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡sviːˌlɪçt].
What does "Zwielicht" mean?
As a noun, "Zwielicht" means: Licht, das sich in der Dämmerung einstellt
How do you pronounce "Zwielicht"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Zwielicht" is [ˈt͡sviːˌlɪçt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Zwielicht" come from?
"Zwielicht" 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 "Zwielicht", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list