eat

/iːt/

//iːt// verb

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

"eat" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“eat” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #765) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#765
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To ingest; to be ingested.

Corpus desk

Index EN-eat · eat · English

eat · rank #765 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #765
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH drive

Nearest frequency peer: drive (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “eat”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “eat” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

eat vs ex
33% similar
eat vs ed
33% similar
eat vs et
67% similar

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

Key facts for eat
PropertyValue
Headwordeat
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/iːt/
Letters3
Frequency rank#765
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “eat” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).eatlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “drive” (#764), “fall” (#766), “David” (#763). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for eat is neighbouring look-alikes ("ex", "ed", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /iːt/. Frequency #765 among 2,246 “E” headwords. 15 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

eat has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ex", "ed", "et", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English eten, from Old English etan (“to eat”), from Proto-West Germanic *etan, from Proto-Germanic *etaną (“to eat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁édti, from *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognates Cognate with Scots ait (“to eat”), Yola ayth, eight (“to ea… The correct English form is eat, spelled E-A-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To ingest; to be ingested.
  2. 2
    To ingest; to be ingested.
  3. 3
    To ingest; to be ingested.
  4. 4
    To ingest; to be ingested.
  5. 5
    To use up.
  6. 6
    To use up.
  7. 7
    To use up.
  8. 8
    To use up.
  9. 9
    To cause (someone) to worry.
  10. 10
    To take the loss in a transaction.
  11. 11
    To be injured or killed by (something such as a firearm or its projectile), especially in the mouth.
  12. 12
    To corrode or erode.
  13. 13
    To perform oral sex (on a person or body part).
  14. 14
    To be very good; to rule, to slay.
  15. 15
    To annex.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He's eating an apple. / Don't disturb me now; can't you see that I'm eating?
  2. But meate commendeth vs not to God: for neither if we eate, are we the better: neither if wee eate not, are we the woꝛſe.

Etymology

From Middle English eten, from Old English etan (“to eat”), from Proto-West Germanic *etan, from Proto-Germanic *etaną (“to eat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁édti, from *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognates Cognate with Scots ait (“to eat”), Yola ayth, eight (“to eat”), North Frisian iidj, iit, ää'e, ääre, ääse (“to eat”), Saterland Frisian iete, íete (“to eat”), West Frisian ite (“to eat”), Alemannic German asse, assu, essen, ässe, ässä (“to eat”), Bavarian eisn, essn, èssn (“to eat”), Cimbrian èssan, èzzan (“to eat”), Dutch, Low German eten (“to eat”), German essen (“to eat”), Luxembourgish iessen (“to eat”), Mòcheno èssn (“to eat”), Vilamovian aosa (“to eat”), Yiddish עסן (esn, “to eat”), Danish æde (“to eat”), Elfdalian jätå (“to eat”), Faroese eta (“to eat”), Icelandic eta, éta (“to eat”), Norwegian Bokmål ete (“to eat”), Norwegian Nynorsk eta, ete, åtå (“to eat”), Swedish äta (“to eat”), Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (itan, “to eat”).

Synonyms

eathavefret

This word in other languages

comer(Español)manger(Français)essen(Deutsch)comer(Português)

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 "eat"?
"eat" is spelled E-A-T. The IPA pronunciation is /iːt/.
What does "eat" mean?
As a verb, "eat" means: To ingest; to be ingested.
What words are commonly confused with "eat"?
"eat" is commonly confused with "ex", "ed", "et". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "eat"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "eat" is /iːt/. 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 "eat"?
From Middle English eten, from Old English etan (“to eat”), from Proto-West Germanic *etan, from Proto-Germanic *etaną (“to eat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁édti, from *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognates Cognate with Scots ait (“to eat”), Yola ayth, eig... 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 "eat", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tax#758hey#787key#788mom#789

What to do next

You've looked up "eat". Here's where to go from here.

  • "eat" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "ex". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #765 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "E" letter cohort. E–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list