Frau

noun

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

"frau" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Frau” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,434. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#26,434
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Used as a courtesy title before the surname of a (typically married) German-speaking woman.

Corpus desk

Index EN-frau · Frau · English

Frau · rank #26,434 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #26,434
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fraternal

Nearest frequency peer: fraternal (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “Frau”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “Frau” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the 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).

Frau vs fu
25% similar
Frau vs fry
25% similar
Frau vs fro
25% similar

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

Key facts for Frau
PropertyValue
HeadwordFrau
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Frequency rank#26,434
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Frau”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).Fraulands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “fraternal” (#26,433), “Fourier” (#26,432), “fuses” (#26,436). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “Frau” is #26,434. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around Frau, anoun. Corpus frequency is #26,434 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Used as a courtesy title before the surname of a (typically married) German-speaking woman.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for Frau, with forms such as "faru", "ffrau", and "frrau". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fu", "fry", "fro", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From German Frau. The correct English form is Frau, spelled F-R-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Used as a courtesy title before the surname of a (typically married) German-speaking woman.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. G. von Hoffmann’s Die Ochsenmenuette offered Frau von Berckel as Therese, Scherer as Istock, Lotti as Eduard, and Frauen Schmidt and Esden, and Graff, Lehmann and Kress in minor rôles.
  2. His gifts as an impassioned speaker had brought him to the notice of some wealthy society ladies (Frauen Bechstein, Hofmann and Wagner), who lionised him and tolerated his cranky behaviour as that of a budding genius.

Etymology

From German Frau.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • faru
  • ffrau
  • frrau
  • frua
  • rfau

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

faru2ffrau1frrau1frua2rfau2
Edit distance from "Frau"

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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Frau"?
"Frau" is spelled F-R-A-U.
What does "Frau" mean?
As a noun, "Frau" means: Used as a courtesy title before the surname of a (typically married) German-speaking woman.
What words are commonly confused with "Frau"?
"Frau" is commonly confused with "fu", "fry", "fro". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "Frau"?
From German Frau. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Frau", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fink#26,424GOTO#26,445exes#26,415hola#26,462

Similar misspelling depth

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

hells5 variantsdevi5 variantsMusa5 variantsbeets5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list