excrete

/ɛkˈskɹiːt/

//ɛkˈskɹiːt// verb

"excrete" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“excrete” is uncommon English (frequency #66,648 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,648
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To discharge material (including waste products) from a cell, body or system.

Corpus desk

Index EN-excrete · excrete · English

excrete · rank #66,648 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #66,648
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH extol

Nearest frequency peer: extol (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “excrete”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “excrete” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for excrete
PropertyValue
Headwordexcrete
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ɛkˈskɹiːt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#66,648
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “excrete” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).excretefalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “extol” (#66,649), “evaluative” (#66,646), “fairplay” (#66,651). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “excrete” is #66,648. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

excrete is uncommon English at frequency #66,648 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ɛkˈskɹiːt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To discharge material (including waste products) from a cell, body or system.".

excrete doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin excrētum, past participle of excernō, from ex- (“out”), and cernō (“separate”). The correct English form is excrete, spelled E-X-C-R-E-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To discharge material (including waste products) from a cell, body or system.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Your open pores excrete sweat and dirt.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin excrētum, past participle of excernō, from ex- (“out”), and cernō (“separate”).

Synonyms

passurinate and Thesaurus:defecate

This word in other languages

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 "excrete"?
"excrete" is spelled E-X-C-R-E-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɛkˈskɹiːt/.
What does "excrete" mean?
As a verb, "excrete" means: To discharge material (including waste products) from a cell, body or system.
How do you pronounce "excrete"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "excrete" is /ɛkˈskɹiːt/. 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 "excrete"?
Borrowed from Latin excrētum, past participle of excernō, from ex- (“out”), and cernō (“separate”). 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 "excrete", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list