formate
/ˈfɔː(ɹ)meɪt/
"formate" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“formate” is uncommon English (frequency #88,350 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #88,350
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any salt or ester of formic acid.
Corpus desk
Index EN-formate · formate · English
formate · rank #88,350 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #88,350
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH fourty
Nearest frequency peer: fourty (+2 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 “formate”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- flix
flix
11,655 corpus weight
- fluoridated
fluoridated
11,654 corpus weight
- formate
formate
11,651 corpus weight
- fourty
fourty
11,649 corpus weight
- freeloading
freeloading
11,647 corpus weight
- frenemies
frenemies
11,646 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “formate” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | formate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɔː(ɹ)meɪt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #88,350 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “formate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
formate is uncommon English at frequency #88,350 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfɔː(ɹ)meɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any salt or ester of formic acid.".
formate has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From formic + -ate (“salt or ester”). The correct English form is formate, spelled F-O-R-M-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1Any salt or ester of formic acid.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how formate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
But most likely my judgement was distorted by my contempt for his acting the young buck [...] for ever waxing his moustaches and loading himself with medicaments supposed to replace the failing sap of youth, glycerophosphates, formates, nux vomica, yohimba, damiana.
Etymology
From formic + -ate (“salt or ester”).
Synonyms
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "formate", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).