cultivate
/ˈkʌltɪveɪt/
"cultivate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cultivate” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,677 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #16,677
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To grow plants, notably crops.
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 | cultivate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈkʌltɪveɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #16,677 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cultivate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cultivate is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkʌltɪveɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,677 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for cultivate, with forms such as "ccultivate", "clutivate", and "culitvate". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "cultivated", "cultivar", "culminate", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Medieval Latin cultivātus, perfect passive participle of cultivō (“till, cultivate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more), from cultīvus (“tilled”), from Latin cultus, perfect passive participle of colō (“till, cultivate”), which comes from earlie… The correct English form is cultivate, spelled C-U-L-T-I-V-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To grow plants, notably crops.
- 2To nurture; to foster; to tend.
- 3To turn or stir soil in preparation for planting or as a method of weed control between growing crop plants.
Etymology
From Medieval Latin cultivātus, perfect passive participle of cultivō (“till, cultivate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more), from cultīvus (“tilled”), from Latin cultus, perfect passive participle of colō (“till, cultivate”), which comes from earlier *quelō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to move; to turn (around)”). Cognates include Ancient Greek πέλω (pélō) and Sanskrit चरति (cárati). The same Proto-Indo-European root also gave Latin in-quil-īnus (“inhabitant”) and anculus (“servant”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccultivate,clutivate,culitvate,culltivate,cultiavte,cultivaet,cultivatte,cultivtae,cultivvate,culttivate,cultviate,cutlivate,ucltivate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cultivate - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "cultivate"?
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Using “cultivate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-U-L-T-I-V-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkʌltɪveɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cultivated” - see the side-by-side comparison. cultivate vs cultivated
- 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.