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discharge

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "discharge", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "discharge" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "discharge" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

discharge is aEnglishverb. It means: To accomplish or complete, as an obligation. Pronounced /dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/. It ranks #7,911 in English word frequency. Often confused with discharged.

Key facts for discharge
PropertyValue
Headworddischarge
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/
Letters9
Frequency rank#7,911
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of discharge in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for discharge is 9 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,911 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 19 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for discharge, with forms such as "ddischarge", "dicsharge", and "discahrge". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "discharged", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dischargen, from Old French deschargier (“to unload”), from Late Latin discarricāre (“unload”). By surface analysis, dis- + charge. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is discharge, spelled D-I-S-C-H-A-R-G-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To accomplish or complete, as an obligation.
  2. 2
    To free of a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to forgive; to clear.
  3. 3
    To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to.
  4. 4
    To set aside; to annul; to dismiss.
  5. 5
    To expel or let go.
  6. 6
    To let fly, as a missile; to shoot.
  7. 7
    To release (an accumulated charge).
  8. 8
    To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss.
  9. 9
    To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss.
  10. 10
    To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss.
  11. 11
    To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty.
  12. 12
    To operate (any weapon that fires a projectile, such as a shotgun or sling).
  13. 13
    To release (an auxiliary assumption) from the list of assumptions used in arguments, and return to the main argument.
  14. 14
    To unload a ship or another means of transport.
  15. 15
    To put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take out, as that with which anything is loaded or filled.
  16. 16
    To give forth; to emit or send out.
  17. 17
    To let fly; to give expression to; to utter.
  18. 18
    To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a chemical process.
  19. 19
    To prohibit; to forbid.

Etymology

From Middle English dischargen, from Old French deschargier (“to unload”), from Late Latin discarricāre (“unload”). By surface analysis, dis- + charge.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddischarge,dicsharge,discahrge,disccharge,dischagre,dischareg,dischargge,discharrge,dischharge,dischrage,dishcarge,disscharge,dsicharge,idscharge

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for discharge

Misspelling Variants of "discharge"

ddischarge10dicsharge9discahrge9disccharge10dischagre9dischareg9dischargge10discharrge10
Misspelling Variants of "discharge"

Frequency rank: #7,911 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "discharge"?
"discharge" is spelled D-I-S-C-H-A-R-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/.
What does "discharge" mean?
As a verb, "discharge" means: To accomplish or complete, as an obligation.
What words are commonly confused with "discharge"?
"discharge" is commonly confused with "discharged". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "discharge"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "discharge" is /dɪsˈtʃɑːdʒ/. 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 "discharge"?
From Middle English dischargen, from Old French deschargier (“to unload”), from Late Latin discarricāre (“unload”). By surface analysis, dis- + charge. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.