candidate
can·did·ate/ˈkæn.dɪ.dət/noun, verb
candidate is spelled C-A-N-D-I-D-A-T-E, 3 syllables: can·did·ate. The wrong spelling people search most is canidate: about 790 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Candidate is a noun meaning “A person who seeks to be elected or appointed to a position or privilege”. The plural of candidate is candidates.
How many letters and syllables are in candidate?
| Letters | 9: C-A-N-D-I-D-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: can·did·ate |
| In writing | 46 times per million words; the 2,204th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 4; the most searched, canidate, about 790 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell candidate?
Candidate is spelled C-A-N-D-I-D-A-T-E. 4 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for candidate in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is candidate?
Candidate appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce candidate?
- UK /ˈkæn.dɪ.dət/
- UK /ˈkæn.dɪ.deɪt/
- British /ˈkandɪdət/
As a verb (“To stand as a candidate for an office, typically for a…”): /ˈkæn.dɪ.deɪt/, /ˈkandɪdɛjt/, /ˈkæn.dɪ.deɪt/.
Candidate has 3 syllables, split can·did·ate in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-candidate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of candidate
- candidates plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- candidating participle, present
- candidated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does candidate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person who seeks to be elected or appointed to a position or privilege.
Smith announced he was the party's candidate for the next election.
- 2
A person who is thought likely or worthy to gain a position or privilege.
- 3
A participant in an examination.
Candidates must remain silent for the entirety of the exam.
- 4
Someone or something likely or suited to undergo or be chosen for a purpose.
After being presented with various suitors, she decided none of the candidates were the kind of man she was looking for.
- 5
A student taking a degree who has finished the coursework but has other remaining requirements such as a dissertation.
a Ph.D. candidate
- 6
The recipient of certain academic degrees, now mainly awarded in Scandinavia.
- 7
A gene which may play a role in a given disease.
verb
- 1
To stand as a candidate for an office, typically for a religious one.
- 2
nonstandardTo make or name (something) as a candidate (to be chosen or deemed suitable for a purpose).
- 3
obsoleterareTo make white; to whitewash.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Candidate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | candidat, candidate , candidater |
| German | Kandidat, Kandidatin, Wahlbewerber, Wahlbewerberin |
| Portuguese | candidato, candidata |
| Spanish | candidato, candidata , participante |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does candidate come from?
From Latin candidātus (“a person who is standing for public office”, noun), from candidus (“dazzling white, shining, clear”) + -ātus, -āta, -ātum (participial adjective-forming suffix), in reference to Roman candidates wearing bleached white togas as a symbol of purity at a public forum. By surface analysis, candid + -ate (noun-forming suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).