depredation

/ˌdɛpɹəˈdeɪʃən/

//ˌdɛpɹəˈdeɪʃən// noun

"depredation" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“depredation” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An act of consuming agricultural resources (crops, livestock), especially as plunder.

Corpus desk

Index EN-depredation · depredation · English

depredation · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for depredation
PropertyValue
Headworddepredation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌdɛpɹəˈdeɪʃən/
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “depredation” in English

depredationranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

depredation is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌdɛpɹəˈdeɪʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for depredation, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French déprédation, from Latin depraedatio. The correct English form is depredation, spelled D-E-P-R-E-D-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An act of consuming agricultural resources (crops, livestock), especially as plunder.
  2. 2
    A raid or predatory attack.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. An animal that produces only two to four young per year cannot suffer vast depredations on the adult population without drastic effects.
  2. Depredation of cultivated crops by elephants is widespread in both Africa and Asia.

Etymology

From Middle French déprédation, from Latin depraedatio.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "depredation"?
"depredation" is spelled D-E-P-R-E-D-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌdɛpɹəˈdeɪʃən/.
What does "depredation" mean?
As a noun, "depredation" means: An act of consuming agricultural resources (crops, livestock), especially as plunder.
How do you pronounce "depredation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "depredation" is /ˌdɛpɹəˈdeɪʃən/. 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 "depredation"?
From Middle French déprédation, from Latin depraedatio. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list