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PlainSpell

cater

/ˈkeɪɾɚ/verb, adverb, noun

cater is spelled C-A-T-E-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, cater means “To provide, particularly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in cater?

Letters5: C-A-T-E-R
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is cater?

Cater appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th 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 cater?

  • UK /ˈkeɪtə/
  • US /ˈkeɪɾɚ/
  • /ˈkeʈə(ɾ)/

As a noun (“Four”): /ˈkeɪtə/, /ˈkatə/, /ˈkeɪtəɹ/.

Cater has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cater.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with cater?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cater from its last stressed vowel (/eɪtəɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: trace, react, crate, carte, creat, caret, acter.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of cater

  • caters present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • catering participle, present
  • catered participle, past
  • catour
  • cator
  • kater
  • chator
  • catre
  • quatre

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cater mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To provide, particularly

  2. 2

    To provide with food, especially for a special occasion as a professional service.

    I catered for her bat mitzvah.

  3. 3

    To provide anything required or desired, often (derogatory) to pander.

    I always wanted someone to cater to my every whim.

  4. 4

    To tailor something to an intended audience.

    The business caters for young professionals.

  5. 5

    UKTo place, set, move, or cut diagonally or rhomboidally.

adverb

  1. 1

    UKUSDiagonally.

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleterareFour.

  2. 2

    obsoleteThe four of cards or dice.

  3. 3

    A method of ringing nine bells in four pairs with a ninth tenor bell.

  4. 4

    obsoleteSynonym of acater: an officer who purchased cates (food supplies) for the steward of a large household or estate.

  5. 5

    obsoleteSynonym of caterer: any provider of food.

  6. 6

    obsoleteSynonym of purveyor: any provider of anything.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cater in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfaire traiteur (to provide food for a special occasion as a…), pourvoir, satisfaire (provide anything required or desired)
Spanishproveer comida para, hacer el catering, hacer la banquetería, ser el banquetero (to provide food for a special occasion as a…), complacer, acorrer (provide anything required or desired)
Germanversorgen (provide anything required or desired)
Portugueseprover, servir, satisfazer (provide anything required or desired), quadra (four of cards or dice)

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 cater come from?

From Middle English catour (“acater, provisioner”), aphetic form of acatour (“acater”), from Old French acater (“to buy, to purchase”). Equivalent to cate + -er.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after cater