confiscate
con·fis·cate/ˈkɑnfəˌskeɪt/verb
confiscate is spelled C-O-N-F-I-S-C-A-T-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables (con·fis·cate). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, confiscate means “To use one's authority to lay claim to and separate a possession from its holder” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in confiscate?
| Letters | 10: C-O-N-F-I-S-C-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: con·fis·cate |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,549th 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 confiscate?
Confiscate appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th 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 confiscate?
- UK /ˈkɒnfɪskeɪt/
- US /ˈkɑnfəˌskeɪt/
Confiscate has 3 syllables, split con·fis·cate in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-confiscate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of confiscate
- confiscates present, singular, he/she/it
- confiscating participle, present
- confiscated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does confiscate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To use one's authority to lay claim to and separate a possession from its holder.
In schools, it is common for teachers to confiscate electronic games and other distractions.
adjective
- 1
obsoleteConfiscated; seized and appropriated by the government for public use; forfeit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Confiscate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense take possession of by authority:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | confisquer |
| German | beschlagnahmen, konfiszieren |
| Portuguese | confiscar |
| Spanish | decomisar, confiscar, incautar |
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 confiscate come from?
Borrowed from Latin cōnfiscātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin cōnfiscō (“to seize for the public treasury (fiscus)”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).