evacuate
/ɪˈvæk.ju.eɪt/verb
evacuate is spelled E-V-A-C-U-A-T-E: 8 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, evacuate means “To leave or withdraw from; to quit; to retire from” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in evacuate?
| Letters | 8: E-V-A-C-U-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.4 times per million words; the 14,307th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is evacuate?
Evacuate appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th 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 evacuate?
- /ɪˈvæk.ju.eɪt/
Evacuate has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Mélange_a_trois-evacuate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of evacuate
- evacuates present, singular, he/she/it
- evacuating participle, present
- evacuated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does evacuate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To leave or withdraw from; to quit; to retire from.
The soldiers evacuated the fortress.
- 2
To cause (or help) to leave or withdraw from.
The firefighters decided to evacuate all the inhabitants from the street.
- 3
To make empty; to empty out; to remove the contents of, including to create a vacuum.
The scientist evacuated the chamber before filling it with nitrogen.
- 4
To make empty; to deprive.
- 5
To remove; to eject; to void; to discharge, as the contents of a vessel, or of the bladder or the bowels (to stool).
- 6
To make void; to nullify; to vacate.
to evacuate a contract or marriage
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate evacuate?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of evacuate: evac.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Evacuate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | évacuer |
| German | evakuieren , entleeren |
| Portuguese | evacuar |
| Spanish | evacuar |
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 evacuate come from?
First attested in 1526; borrowed from Latin ēvacuātus, the perfect passive participle of ēvacuō (“to empty out, evacuate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).