bates

/beɪts/

//beɪts// verb

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

"bates" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bates” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #12,189. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#12,189
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - third-person singular simple present indicative of bate

Corpus desk

Index EN-bates · bates · English

bates · rank #12,189 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #12,189
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH Barrett

Nearest frequency peer: Barrett (-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 “bates”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “bates” 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).

bates vs BTS
0% similar
bates vs bes
60% similar
bates vs bath
60% similar

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

Key facts for bates
PropertyValue
Headwordbates
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/beɪts/
Letters5
Frequency rank#12,189
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bates”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Barrett” (#12,188), “baton” (#12,190), “bargaining” (#12,187). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bates” is #12,189. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around bates (IPA /beɪts/), averb. Corpus frequency is #12,189 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Dominant gloss: "third-person singular simple present indicative of bate".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for bates, with forms such as "abtes", "batess", and "batse". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "BTS", "bes", "bath", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is bates, spelled B-A-T-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    third-person singular simple present indicative of bate

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abtes
  • batess
  • batse
  • battes
  • bbates
  • btaes

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bates - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

abtes2batess1batse2battes1bbates1btaes2
Edit distance from "bates"

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 "bates"?
"bates" is spelled B-A-T-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /beɪts/.
What does "bates" mean?
As a verb, "bates" means: third-person singular simple present indicative of bate
What words are commonly confused with "bates"?
"bates" is commonly confused with "BTS", "bes", "bath". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bates"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bates" is /beɪts/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bates" come from?
"bates" is a English 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 English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

baton#12,190camel#12,197Ahmad#12,176chefs#12,202

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

brew6 variantszinc6 variantscocoa6 variantscomet6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list