cater
/ˈkeɪtə/
"cater" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cater” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,880 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #13,880
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To provide, particularly
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cater |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈkeɪtə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #13,880 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cater” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cater is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkeɪtə/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,880 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for cater, with forms such as "acter", "caetr", and "caterr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CTR", "CTE", "cute", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English catour (“acater, provisioner”), aphetic form of acatour (“acater”), from Old French acater (“to buy, to purchase”). Equivalent to cate + -er. The correct English form is cater, spelled C-A-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1To provide, particularly
- 2To provide
- 3To provide
- 4To provide
Etymology
From Middle English catour (“acater, provisioner”), aphetic form of acatour (“acater”), from Old French acater (“to buy, to purchase”). Equivalent to cate + -er.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acter,caetr,caterr,catre,catter,ccater,ctaer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cater - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “cater”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkeɪtə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “CTR” - see the side-by-side comparison. cater vs CTR
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.