dispatch
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
8 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "dispatch", 8-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 "dispatch" 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 "dispatch" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
dispatch is aEnglishverb. It means: To send (a shipment) with promptness. Pronounced /dɪˈspætʃ/. Often confused with dispatcher and despatch.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dispatch |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɪˈspætʃ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #10,198 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dispatch is 8 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈspætʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,198 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for dispatch, with forms such as "ddispatch", "dipsatch", and "disaptch". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "dispatcher", "despatch", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Spanish despachar or Italian dispacciare, replacing alternate reflex depeach, which is from French dépêcher. Further, several steps omitting, from Latin dis- + impedicō (whence impeach). The first known use in writing (in the past tense, spell… 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 dispatch, spelled D-I-S-P-A-T-C-H, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To send (a shipment) with promptness.
- 2To send (a person) away hastily.
- 3To send (an important official message) promptly, by means of a diplomat or military officer.
- 4To send (a journalist) to a place in order to report.
- 5To dispose of speedily, as business; to execute quickly; to make a speedy end of; to finish; to perform.
- 6To eat, especially quickly.
- 7To rid; to free.
- 8To destroy (someone or something) quickly and efficiently.
- 9To defeat
- 10To pass on for further processing, especially via a dispatch table (often with to).
- 11To hurry.
- 12To deprive.
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish despachar or Italian dispacciare, replacing alternate reflex depeach, which is from French dépêcher. Further, several steps omitting, from Latin dis- + impedicō (whence impeach). The first known use in writing (in the past tense, spelled as dispached) is by Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1517. This would be unusually early for a borrowing from a Romance language other than French, but Tunstall had studied in Italy and was Commissioner to Spain, so this word may have been borrowed through diplomatic circles. The alternative spelling despatch was introduced in Samuel Johnson's dictionary, probably by accident. Compare typologically deliver (for the meaning to bring or transport) (< Latin dē- + līberō).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddispatch,dipsatch,disaptch,dispacth,dispatcch,dispatchh,dispathc,dispattch,disppatch,disptach,disspatch,dsipatch,idspatch
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for dispatch
Misspelling Variants of "dispatch"
Frequency rank: #10,198 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "dispatch"?
What does "dispatch" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "dispatch"?
How do you pronounce "dispatch"?
What is the origin of the word "dispatch"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index: