collate
/kəˈleɪt/
"collate" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“collate” is an uncommon English word, ranked #57,944 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #57,944
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To examine diverse documents and so on, to discover similarities and differences.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | collate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /kəˈleɪt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #57,944 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “collate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for collate is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kəˈleɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #57,944 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for collate, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin collātus, perfect passive participle of conferō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of confer. See also infer, delate and defer (Etymology 2), relate and refer, as well as prelate and prefer among others. Not related to collateral. The correct English form is collate, spelled C-O-L-L-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To examine diverse documents and so on, to discover similarities and differences.
- 2To assemble something in a logical sequence.
- 3To sort multiple copies of printed documents into sequences of individual page order, one sequence for each copy, especially before binding.
- 4To bestow or confer.
- 5To admit a cleric to a benefice; to present and institute in a benefice, when the person presenting is both the patron and the ordinary; followed by to.
Etymology
From Latin collātus, perfect passive participle of conferō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of confer. See also infer, delate and defer (Etymology 2), relate and refer, as well as prelate and prefer among others. Not related to collateral.
This word in other languages
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 “collate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-L-L-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kəˈleɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.