dine

/daɪn/

//daɪn// verb

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

"dine" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dine” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,144. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,144
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To eat; to eat dinner or supper.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dine · dine · English

dine · rank #15,144 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,144
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH differentiati…

Nearest frequency peer: differentiation (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “dine”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “dine” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

dine vs due
50% similar
dine vs don
50% similar
dine vs DNA
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for dine
PropertyValue
Headworddine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/daɪn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#15,144
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “dine”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).dinelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “differentiation” (#15,143), “disadvantaged” (#15,145), “diaper” (#15,142). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “dine” is #15,144. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around dine (IPA /daɪn/), averb. Corpus frequency is #15,144 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for dine, with forms such as "ddine", "dien", and "dinne". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "due", "don", "DNA", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dynen, from Old French disner (“to dine, eat the main meal of the day”), from Vulgar Latin *disiūnāre (“to eat breakfast”), from *disieiūnāre (“to break the fast”), from Late Latin, from dis- + iēiūnō (“to fast”), from Latin ieiūnus. The correct English form is dine, spelled D-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To eat; to eat dinner or supper.
  2. 2
    To give a dinner to; to furnish with the chief meal; to feed.
  3. 3
    To dine upon; to have to eat.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Brown accompanied his jolly landlord and the rest of his friends into the large and smoky kitchen, where this savoury mess reeked on an oaken table, massy enough to have dined Johnnie Armstrong and his merry-men.
  2. I dined them, treated them, listened to the truth of their hearts, stole their names and through this means bluffed and bartered my way into courthouse, palace and colonial manor.

Etymology

From Middle English dynen, from Old French disner (“to dine, eat the main meal of the day”), from Vulgar Latin *disiūnāre (“to eat breakfast”), from *disieiūnāre (“to break the fast”), from Late Latin, from dis- + iēiūnō (“to fast”), from Latin ieiūnus.

Synonyms

dinner

This word in other languages

cenar(Español)dîner(Français)speisen(Deutsch)jantar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddine
  • dien
  • dinne
  • dnie
  • idne

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dine - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ddine1dien2dinne1dnie2idne2
Edit distance from "dine"

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 "dine"?
"dine" is spelled D-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /daɪn/.
What does "dine" mean?
As a verb, "dine" means: To eat; to eat dinner or supper.
What words are commonly confused with "dine"?
"dine" is commonly confused with "due", "don", "DNA". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "dine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dine" is /daɪn/. 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 "dine"?
From Middle English dynen, from Old French disner (“to dine, eat the main meal of the day”), from Vulgar Latin *disiūnāre (“to eat breakfast”), from *disieiūnāre (“to break the fast”), from Late Latin, from dis- + iēiūnō (“to fast”), from Latin ie... 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 "dine", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

coco#15,131flap#15,170brag#15,115glee#15,177

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

fella5 variantsLIGA5 variantsmesa5 variantsmanny5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list