hypothecate
/haɪˈpɒθɪkeɪt/verb
hypothecate is spelled H-Y-P-O-T-H-E-C-A-T-E: 11 letters. It appears about once in every 81 million words in written English, the 286,585th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, hypothecate means “To pledge (something) as surety for a loan; to pawn, mortgage” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hypothecate?
| Letters | 11: H-Y-P-O-T-H-E-C-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 81 million words; the 286,585th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hypothecate?
Hypothecate appears about once in every 81 million words in written English, the 286,585th 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 hypothecate?
- UK /haɪˈpɒθɪkeɪt/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hypothecate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hypothecate
- hypothecates present, singular, he/she/it
- hypothecating participle, present
- hypothecated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hypothecate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To pledge (something) as surety for a loan; to pawn, mortgage.
- 2
UKTo designate a new tax or tax increase for a specific expenditure.
- 3
AustraliaTo designate in advance the specific purpose of expenditure for government revenues (especially taxes).
"Levying customs duties and excises on necessities also ensured a relatively secure source of revenue. Revenues were generally hypothecated in an attempt to draw support from the public, for example funding an orphanage, gaol, hospital equi
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hypothecate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pledge as surety:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hypothéquer |
| German | verpfänden, beleihen |
| Spanish | hipotecar |
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 hypothecate come from?
From Latin hypothecatus, past participle of hypotheco, hypothecare. This was in turn derived from Ancient Greek ὑποθήκη (hupothḗkē, “pledge”), from the verb ὑποτίθημι (hupotíthēmi, “to pledge as surety”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).