batter
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "batter", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "batter" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "batter" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
batter is aEnglishverb. It means: To hit or strike violently and repeatedly. Pronounced /ˈbætə/. Often confused with Bauer and Bayer.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | batter |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈbætə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #13,666 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for batter is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbætə/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,666 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for batter, with forms such as "abtter", "bater", and "batetr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Bauer", "Bayer", "Bette", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English batteren, batren, bateren, a frequentative of Middle English batten, baten (“to beat”), equivalent to bat + -er (frequentative suffix). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is batter, spelled B-A-T-T-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To hit or strike violently and repeatedly.
- 2To coat with batter (the food ingredient).
- 3To defeat soundly; to thrash.
- 4To intoxicate.
- 5To flatten (metal) by hammering, so as to compress it inwardly and spread it outwardly.
- 6To coat in a paste-like substance; to fasten with a paste-like glue.
Etymology
From Middle English batteren, batren, bateren, a frequentative of Middle English batten, baten (“to beat”), equivalent to bat + -er (frequentative suffix).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abtter,bater,batetr,batterr,battre,bbatter,btater
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for batter
Misspelling Variants of "batter"
Frequency rank: #13,666 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter B in our English index: