dictate
/ˈdɪkˌteɪt/
"dictate" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dictate” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,320 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,320
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An order or command.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dictate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɪkˌteɪt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #13,320 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dictate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dictate is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɪkˌteɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,320 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "An order or command.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for dictate, with forms such as "dcitate", "ddictate", and "dicatte". 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, "dictator", "dictated", "distaste", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1581; borrowed from Latin dictātum (“a thing said, something dictated”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of dictātus, the perfect passive participle of dictō (“pronounce or declare repeatedly; dictate”), frequentative of… The correct English form is dictate, spelled D-I-C-T-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1An order or command.
Etymology
First attested in 1581; borrowed from Latin dictātum (“a thing said, something dictated”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of dictātus, the perfect passive participle of dictō (“pronounce or declare repeatedly; dictate”), frequentative of dīcō (“say, speak”). Doublet of diktat.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: dcitate,ddictate,dicatte,dicctate,dictaet,dictatte,dicttae,dicttate,ditcate,idctate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dictate - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “dictate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-I-C-T-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɪkˌteɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “dictator” - see the side-by-side comparison. dictate vs dictator
- 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.