delegate

/ˈdɛlɪɡət/

//ˈdɛlɪɡət// noun

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

"delegate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“delegate” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,197. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,197
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-delegate · delegate · English

delegate · rank #11,197 · 11 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,197
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH daring

Nearest frequency peer: daring (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “delegate”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “delegate” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

delegate vs delete
75% similar
delegate vs delicate
75% similar
delegate vs delegated
89% similar

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

Key facts for delegate
PropertyValue
Headworddelegate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdɛlɪɡət/
Letters8
Frequency rank#11,197
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “delegate”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).delegatelands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “daring” (#11,196), “deploy” (#11,198), “cutter” (#11,195). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “delegate” is #11,197. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around delegate (IPA /ˈdɛlɪɡət/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,197 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for delegate, with forms such as "ddelegate", "deelgate", and "deleagte". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "delete", "delicate", "delegated", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English delegat, from Old French delegat, from Latin dēlēgātus substantivized from the nominative masculine singular of dēlēgātus, the perfect passive participle of dēlēgō (“to send, assign, delegate”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix). See also l… The correct English form is delegate, spelled D-E-L-E-G-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.
  2. 2
    A representative at a conference, etc.
  3. 3
    An appointed representative in some legislative bodies.
  4. 4
    A type of variable storing a reference to a method with a particular signature, analogous to a function pointer.
  5. 5
    A member of a governmental legislature who lacks voting power.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how delegate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Historically, all viable frameworks have always provided a mechanism to implement callbacks. C# goes one step further and encapsulates callbacks into callable objects called delegates.
  2. The house of delegates in apartheid-era South Africa lacked any real voting power.

Etymology

From Middle English delegat, from Old French delegat, from Latin dēlēgātus substantivized from the nominative masculine singular of dēlēgātus, the perfect passive participle of dēlēgō (“to send, assign, delegate”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix). See also legate.

This word in other languages

delegado(Español)délégué(Français)Delegierter(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddelegate
  • deelgate
  • deleagte
  • delegaet
  • delegatte
  • deleggate
  • delegtae
  • delgeate
  • dellegate
  • dleegate
  • edlegate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of delegate - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ddelegate1deelgate2deleagte2delegaet2delegatte1deleggate1delegtae2delgeate2
Edit distance from "delegate"

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 "delegate"?
"delegate" is spelled D-E-L-E-G-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɛlɪɡət/.
What does "delegate" mean?
As a noun, "delegate" means: A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.
What words are commonly confused with "delegate"?
"delegate" is commonly confused with "delete", "delicate", "delegated". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "delegate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "delegate" is /ˈdɛlɪɡət/. 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 "delegate"?
From Middle English delegat, from Old French delegat, from Latin dēlēgātus substantivized from the nominative masculine singular of dēlēgātus, the perfect passive participle of dēlēgō (“to send, assign, delegate”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix). ... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "delegate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

emission#11,205cinnamon#11,182Christie#11,180fracture#11,214

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

Frances11 variantsbisexual11 variantsbaseline11 variantshonoured11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list