date

/deɪt/

//deɪt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"date" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“date” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #605 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#605
frequency rank, English
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The fruit of the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft, sweet pulp and enclosing a hard kernel.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

date vs de
50% similar
date vs DT
0% similar
date vs day
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for date
PropertyValue
Headworddate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/deɪt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#605
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “date” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). date lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for date is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /deɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #605 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for date, with forms such as "adte", "daet", and "datte". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "de", "DT", "day", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English date, from Old French date, datil, datille, from Latin dactylus (likely via Old Provençal datil), from Ancient Greek δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”) (from the resemblance of the date to a human finger), probably a folk-etymological alterat… The correct English form is date, spelled D-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The fruit of the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft, sweet pulp and enclosing a hard kernel.
  2. 2
    The date palm.
  3. 3
    The anus.

Etymology

From Middle English date, from Old French date, datil, datille, from Latin dactylus (likely via Old Provençal datil), from Ancient Greek δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”) (from the resemblance of the date to a human finger), probably a folk-etymological alteration of a word from a Semitic source such as Arabic دَقَل (daqal, “variety of date palm”) or Hebrew דֶּקֶל (deqel, “date palm”). Doublet of dactyl and dactylus.

This word in other languages

dátil(Español)datte(Français)Dattel(Deutsch)tâmara(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: adte,daet,datte,ddate,dtae

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of date - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

adte2daet2datte1ddate1dtae2
Edit distance from "date"

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 "date"?
"date" is spelled D-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /deɪt/.
What does "date" mean?
As a noun, "date" means: The fruit of the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft, sweet pulp and enclosing a hard kernel.
What words are commonly confused with "date"?
"date" is commonly confused with "de", "DT", "day". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "date"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "date" is /deɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "date"?
From Middle English date, from Old French date, datil, datille, from Latin dactylus (likely via Old Provençal datil), from Ancient Greek δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”) (from the resemblance of the date to a human finger), probably a folk-etymologic... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “date”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is D-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /deɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “de” - see the side-by-side comparison. date vs de
  • 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list