collimate
/ˈkɒlɪmeɪt/verb
collimate is spelled C-O-L-L-I-M-A-T-E: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 93 million words in written English, the 309,272nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, collimate means “To focus into a narrow beam or column; to adjust a focusing device so that it produces a narrow beam” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in collimate?
| Letters | 9: C-O-L-L-I-M-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 93 million words; the 309,272nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is collimate?
Collimate appears about once in every 93 million words in written English, the 309,272nd 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 collimate?
- UK /ˈkɒlɪmeɪt/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Neøn-collimate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of collimate
- collimates present, singular, he/she/it
- collimating participle, present
- collimated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does collimate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To focus into a narrow beam or column; to adjust a focusing device so that it produces a narrow beam.
Lead bricks were placed around the radioactive source so that the escaping gamma rays would be limited to a collimated beam rather than filling the lab.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Collimate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to focus:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | kollimieren |
| Spanish | colimar |
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 collimate come from?
First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin collimātus, perfect passive participle of collīmō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), itself originating from a misreading of collīniō, collīneō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).