imbibe
/ɪmˈbaɪb/
"imbibe" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“imbibe” is an uncommon English word, ranked #65,199 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #65,199
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To drink (used frequently of alcoholic beverages).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | imbibe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɪmˈbaɪb/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #65,199 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “imbibe” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for imbibe is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪmˈbaɪb/. Corpus data places it at rank #65,199 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for imbibe in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English imbiben, from Latin imbibō, from im- + bibō (“to drink”) (whence also beverage), from Proto-Italic *pibō, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃-, whence also potable, potion. The correct English form is imbibe, spelled I-M-B-I-B-E.
Definition
- 1To drink (used frequently of alcoholic beverages).
- 2To take in; absorb.
- 3To steep; to cause to absorb liquid.
Etymology
From Middle English imbiben, from Latin imbibō, from im- + bibō (“to drink”) (whence also beverage), from Proto-Italic *pibō, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃-, whence also potable, potion.
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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Using “imbibe”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-M-B-I-B-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪmˈbaɪb/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.