desiccate
/ˈdɛsɪkeɪt/
"desiccate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“desiccate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To remove moisture from; to dry; (sometimes) to dry to an extreme degree.
Corpus desk
Index EN-desiccate · desiccate · English
desiccate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | desiccate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈdɛsɪkeɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “desiccate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
desiccate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈdɛsɪkeɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for desiccate, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin dēsiccō (“to dry completely, dry up”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix), from dē- (“completely, to exhaustion”, a prefix) + siccō (“to dry; to drain, exhaust”), from siccus (“dry”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, de-… The correct English form is desiccate, spelled D-E-S-I-C-C-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To remove moisture from; to dry; (sometimes) to dry to an extreme degree.
- 2To preserve by drying.
- 3To become dry; to dry up.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how desiccate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[…] As in Bodies deſsiccate, by Heat, or Age; For in them, when the Natiue Spirit goeth forth, and the Moiſture with it, the Aire with time getteth into the Pores.
Except on the borders of the ocean, and on the mountain sides where it deposits moisture in a visible form, the sea breeze has a drying effect. It desiccates the soil with rapidity.
Etymology
From Latin dēsiccō (“to dry completely, dry up”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix), from dē- (“completely, to exhaustion”, a prefix) + siccō (“to dry; to drain, exhaust”), from siccus (“dry”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, de- + siccate.
This word in other languages
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.