generate
/ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹeɪt/verb, adjective
generate is spelled G-E-N-E-R-A-T-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, generate means “To bring into being; give rise to” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in generate?
| Letters | 8: G-E-N-E-R-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,934th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is generate?
Generate appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th 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 generate?
- UK /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹeɪt/
- UK [ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɹeɪt]
- US /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹeɪt/
Generate has 3 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: En-us-generate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with generate?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as generate (/ɛnəɹeɪt/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: teenager.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of generate
- generates present, singular, he/she/it
- generating participle, present
- generated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does generate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To bring into being; give rise to.
The discussion generated an uproar.
- 2
To produce as a result of a chemical or physical process.
Adding concentrated sulphuric acid to water generates heat.
- 3
To procreate, beget.
They generated many offspring.
- 4
To form a figure from a curve or solid.
Rotating a circle generates a sphere.
- 5
To appear or occur; be generated.
adjective
- 1
rareGenerated, not self-existent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Generate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | générer , engendrer |
| German | generieren |
| Portuguese | gerar , procriar |
| Spanish | generar , procrear , producir |
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 generate come from?
From Latin generō (“beget, procreate, produce”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix), from genus (“a kind, race, family”, gener- in compounds) + -ō; see genus. Compare Italian generare, French générer (and its older (and now obsolete) English cognate from Middle French, gender (“engender, breed, copulate”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).