feeder
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "feeder", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "feeder" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "feeder" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
feeder is aEnglishnoun. It means: One who feeds, or gives food to another. Pronounced /ˈfidɚ/. Often confused with fewer and fever.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | feeder |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfidɚ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #15,815 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 18 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for feeder is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfidɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,815 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for feeder, with forms such as "efeder", "fedeer", and "feder". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "fewer", "fever", "freer", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English feedere, federe, fedare, equivalent to feed + -er. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is feeder, spelled F-E-E-D-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1One who feeds, or gives food to another.
- 2One who feeds, or gives food to another.
- 3One who feeds, or takes in food.
- 4One who, or that which, feeds material into something (especially a machine).
- 5That which is used to feed.
- 6A tributary stream, especially of a canal.
- 7A branch line of a railway.
- 8A transmission line that feeds the electricity for an electricity substation, or for a transmitter.
- 9Ellipsis of feeder school.
- 10A feeder ship.
- 11A judge whose law clerks are often selected to become clerks for the Supreme Court.
- 12The pitcher.
- 13A player whose character is killed by the opposing player or team more than once, deliberately or through lack of skills and experience, thus helping the opposing side.
- 14One who abets another.
- 15A parasite.
- 16Synonym of blower (“fissure from which firedamp issues”).
Etymology
From Middle English feedere, federe, fedare, equivalent to feed + -er.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: efeder,fedeer,feder,feedder,feederr,feedre,feeedr,ffeeder
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for feeder
Misspelling Variants of "feeder"
Frequency rank: #15,815 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index: