# eat

> English word · Verb · IPA /iːt/ · frequency rank #765

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

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **ex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ex)
- **ed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ed)
- **et** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-et)
- **EU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-eu)
- **em** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-em)
- **el** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-el)
- **en** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-en)
- **eh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-eh)
- **er** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-er)
- **EP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ep)
- **ES** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-es)
- **EV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ev)
- **ee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ee)
- **ew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ew)
- **ey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ey)
- **ef** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ef)
- **ez** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ez)
- **Ek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ek)
- **EI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-ei)
- **eo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eat-vs-eo)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/eat