Zwitter

[ˈt͡svɪtɐ]

/[ˈt͡svɪtɐ]/ noun

The verdict

“Zwitter” is uncommon German (frequency #65,928 among 1,996 “Z” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#65,928
frequency rank, German
1,996
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lebewesen, das sowohl männliche als auch weibliche Geschlechtsmerkmale aufweist

Corpus desk

Index DE-zwitter · Zwitter · German

Zwitter · rank #65,928 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #65,928
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,996
  • PHOTO-FINISH zweiteilige

Nearest frequency peer: zweiteilige (-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 „Zwitter“

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

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Zwitter
PropertyValue
HeadwordZwitter
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈt͡svɪtɐ]
Letters7
Frequency rank#65,928
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Zwitter“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Zwitterfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „zweiteilige“ (#65,927), „zyklische“ (#65,929), „zweitbester“ (#65,926). Unter 1,996 „Z“-Lemmata liegt „Zwitter“ bei #65,928. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Zwitter is uncommon German at frequency #65,928 among 1,996 “Z” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈt͡svɪtɐ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zwitter doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

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 Zwitter, spelled Z-W-I-T-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lebewesen, das sowohl männliche als auch weibliche Geschlechtsmerkmale aufweist
  2. 2
    Gebilde aus widersprüchlichen Teilen bestehend

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Im Mai 2000 beantragte Michel die Streichung der Randvermerke im Geburtenbuch sowie die Eintragung der Geschlechtsbezeichnung „Zwitter", behelfsweise „Hermaphrodit", „intersexuell" oder „intrasexuell".
  2. „Die Entscheidung, ob ein Wurm zum Männchen oder zum Zwitter wird, hängt von der Anzahl der X-Chromosomen ab.“

Synonyms

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 "Zwitter"?
"Zwitter" is spelled Z-W-I-T-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡svɪtɐ].
What does "Zwitter" mean?
As a noun, "Zwitter" means: Lebewesen, das sowohl männliche als auch weibliche Geschlechtsmerkmale aufweist
How do you pronounce "Zwitter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Zwitter" is [ˈt͡svɪtɐ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Zwitter" come from?
"Zwitter" 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 "Zwitter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list