delete
de·lete/dɪˈliːt/verb, noun
delete is spelled D-E-L-E-T-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (de·lete). It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, delete means “To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer or other device” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in delete?
| Letters | 6: D-E-L-E-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: de·lete |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,934th 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 delete?
Delete appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th 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 delete?
- /dɪˈliːt/
- /diˈliːt/
- /dəˈliːt/
Delete has 2 syllables, split de·lete in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-delete.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of delete
- deletes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- deleting participle, present
- deleted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does delete mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer or other device.
- 2
slangTo defeat or dominate.
- 3
slangTo kill or murder.
noun
- 1
A deletion.
- 2
A remainder of a music or video release.
- 3
Alternative letter-case form of Delete.
- 4
The delete character (U+007F or %7F).
noun
- 1
A key that may be pressed to delete something (such as text or files) from a computer. The key also erases text from left to right, unlike the backspace key.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate delete?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of delete: CUD, del.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Delete in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | supprimer , touche de suppression |
| German | streichen, löschen , Entfernen |
| Portuguese | apagar, excluir, deletar, eliminar |
| Spanish | deletear , tecla de suprimir |
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 delete come from?
From Latin dēlētus, past participle of dēlēre (“destroy, blot out, efface”), from dēlēvī, originally perf. tense of dēlinere (“to daub, erase by smudging”), from dē- (“from, away”) + linere (“to smear, wipe”). Original sense first appears c. 1495. In common use for ordering the absence of features of products (such as automobiles) in the 1960s. The computing sense, including the noun form, first appears c. 1977 in Software: Practice & Experience. Not related to deleterious. Doublet of delible and deleble.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).