ZDF

\ˌt͡sɛt deː ˈʔɛf\

/\ˌt͡sɛt deː ˈʔɛf\/ noun

The verdict

“ZDF” is uncommon French (frequency #89,321 among 240 “Z” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#89,321
frequency rank, French
240
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, chaîne de télévision publique en Allemagne.

Corpus desk

Index FR-zdf · ZDF · French

ZDF · rank #89,321 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #89,321
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 240
  • PHOTO-FINISH yy

Nearest frequency peer: yy (-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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « ZDF »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « ZDF » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ZDF
PropertyValue
HeadwordZDF
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˌt͡sɛt deː ˈʔɛf\
Letters3
Frequency rank#89,321
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « ZDF » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).ZDFtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « yy » (#89,320), « yeh » (#89,319), « zygomatiques » (#89,323). Parmi 240 lemmes en « Z », « ZDF » est au #89,321. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ZDF is uncommon French at frequency #89,321 among 240 “Z” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˌt͡sɛt deː ˈʔɛf\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, chaîne de télévision publique en Allemagne.".

Zero misspellings are on record for ZDF in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored 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 French form is ZDF, spelled Z-D-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, chaîne de télévision publique en Allemagne.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Christoph Daum tat vieles in seinem Leben, was Aufsehen erregte, so schrieb er auch Fernsehgeschichte. Im Mai 1989 lieferte sich der damalige Trainer des 1. FC Köln im aktuellen sportstudio des ZDF ein Streitgespräch mit Uli Hoeneß, an das sich nicht nur Fußballfans erinnern.

Antonyms

ARDDas Erste

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

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ZDF"?
"ZDF" is spelled Z-D-F. The IPA pronunciation is \ˌt͡sɛt deː ˈʔɛf\.
What does "ZDF" mean?
As a noun, "ZDF" means: Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, chaîne de télévision publique en Allemagne.
How do you pronounce "ZDF"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ZDF" is \ˌt͡sɛt deː ˈʔɛf\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ZDF" come from?
"ZDF" is a French 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 French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list