contribute
/kənˈt(ʃ)ɹɪb.juːt/
"contribute" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“contribute” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,008 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #4,008
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To give something that is or becomes part of a larger whole.
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 | contribute |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹɪb.juːt/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #4,008 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “contribute” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for contribute is 10 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹɪb.juːt/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,008 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To give something that is or becomes part of a larger whole.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for contribute, with forms such as "ccontribute", "cnotribute", and "conntribute". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "contributed", "contributor", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *tréyes From Latin contribūtus, perfect passive participle of contribuō (“to bring together; to unite”), from con- (“together”) + tribuō (“to bestow”), from tribus (“tribe”), derived from trēs (“three”), from Proto-Italic *trēs, from Proto-Indo-Eu… The correct English form is contribute, spelled C-O-N-T-R-I-B-U-T-E.
Definition
- 1To give something that is or becomes part of a larger whole.
Etymology
PIE word *tréyes From Latin contribūtus, perfect passive participle of contribuō (“to bring together; to unite”), from con- (“together”) + tribuō (“to bestow”), from tribus (“tribe”), derived from trēs (“three”), from Proto-Italic *trēs, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccontribute,cnotribute,conntribute,conrtibute,contirbute,contrbiute,contribbute,contribtue,contribuet,contributte,contriubte,contrribute,conttribute,cotnribute,ocntribute
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of contribute - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
How do you spell "contribute"?
What does "contribute" mean?
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Using “contribute”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-N-T-R-I-B-U-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹɪb.juːt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “contributed” - see the side-by-side comparison. contribute vs contributed
- 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.