# celibate

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈsɛləbət/ · frequency rank #40,169

## Definitions
1. Not married.
2. Abstaining from sexual relations and pleasures.

## Etymology
Probably from the noun (“celibacy”) or from celibacy on the model of privacy/private, etc. Alternatively, from Latin caelebs (“single”) + -ate.

## Easily confused with
- **climate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/celibate-vs-climate)
- **celibacy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/celibacy-vs-celibate)
- **celebrate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/celebrate-vs-celibate)
- **calibrate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/calibrate-vs-celibate)

## Common misspellings (11)
`ccelibate`, `ceilbate`, `celbiate`, `celiabte`, `celibaet`, `celibatte`, `celibbate`, `celibtae`, `cellibate`, `cleibate`, `eclibate`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/celibate