educate
ed·u·cate/ˈɛd͡ʒ.əˌkeɪt/verb
educate is spelled E-D-U-C-A-T-E: 7 letters and 3 syllables (ed·u·cate). It appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, educate means “To instruct or train” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in educate?
| Letters | 7: E-D-U-C-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ed·u·cate |
| In writing | 8.3 times per million words; the 8,036th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is educate?
Educate appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce educate?
- /ˈɛd͡ʒ.ʊˌkeɪt/
- /ˈɛd.jʊˌkeɪt/
- US /ˈɛd͡ʒ.əˌkeɪt/
Educate has 3 syllables, split ed·u·cate in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-educate.ogg, En-us-educate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of educate
- educates present, singular, he/she/it
- educating participle, present
- educated participle, past
- educamate
- edumacate
- more educate comparative
- most educate superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does educate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To instruct or train.
Wang said such changes to the Baishui glacier provide the chance to educate visitors about global warming.
adjective
- 1
obsoleteeducated
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Educate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to instruct or train:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | éduquer |
| German | ausbilden, erziehen |
| Portuguese | educar, instruir, ensinar |
| Spanish | educar, instruir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does educate come from?
From Middle English educaten, from educat(e) (“educated”, also used as the past participle of educaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), from Latin ēducātus, the perfect passive participle of ēducō (“(of a child, physically or mentally) to bring up, train, nourish; (of a person in learning or art) to rear, educate, train; (plants or animals) to nourish, support, or produce”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from an intensive/frequentative formed on ēducō (“lead out, draw out; to raise up, erect”) + -ō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).