dilator

noun

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

"dilator" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dilator” is uncommon English (frequency #99,180 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,180
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any nerve or muscle that causes part of the body to dilate.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dilator · dilator · English

dilator · rank #99,180 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #99,180
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH dickwad

Nearest frequency peer: dickwad (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “dilator”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “dilator” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for dilator
PropertyValue
Headworddilator
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#99,180
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “dilator” in English

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).dilatorfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “dickwad” (#99,179), “diatomic” (#99,178), “diplomate” (#99,182). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “dilator” is #99,180. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dilator is uncommon English at frequency #99,180 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for dilator, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From dilate + -or. The correct English form is dilator, spelled D-I-L-A-T-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any nerve or muscle that causes part of the body to dilate.
  2. 2
    Any drug that causes such dilation.
  3. 3
    An instrument used to dilate an orifice or cavity.

Etymology

From dilate + -or.

Synonyms

dilatatordilater

This word in other languages

dilatador(Español)

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 "dilator"?
"dilator" is spelled D-I-L-A-T-O-R.
What does "dilator" mean?
As a noun, "dilator" means: Any nerve or muscle that causes part of the body to dilate.
What is the origin of the word "dilator"?
From dilate + -or. 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 "dilator", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

dickwad#99,179disrobe#99,185curtsey#99,147eidetic#99,215

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list