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impregnate

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

10 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "impregnate", 10-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 "impregnate" 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 "impregnate" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

impregnate is aEnglishverb. It means: To cause to become pregnant. Pronounced /ˈɪmpɹɛɡneɪt/.

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Key facts for impregnate
PropertyValue
Headwordimpregnate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈɪmpɹɛɡneɪt/
Letters10
Frequency rank#53,618
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of impregnate in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for impregnate is 10 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɪmpɹɛɡneɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #53,618 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for impregnate in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is first attested in 1540, the verb in 1605; borrowed from Medieval Latin impraegnātus, perfect passive participle of Latin impraegnō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of impregn; participial usage of… 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 impregnate, spelled I-M-P-R-E-G-N-A-T-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cause to become pregnant.
  2. 2
    To fertilize.
  3. 3
    To saturate, or infuse.
  4. 4
    To fill pores or spaces with a substance.
  5. 5
    To become pregnant.

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in 1540, the verb in 1605; borrowed from Medieval Latin impraegnātus, perfect passive participle of Latin impraegnō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of impregn; participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Frequency rank: #53,618 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "impregnate"?
"impregnate" is spelled I-M-P-R-E-G-N-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɪmpɹɛɡneɪt/.
What does "impregnate" mean?
As a verb, "impregnate" means: To cause to become pregnant.
How do you pronounce "impregnate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "impregnate" is /ˈɪmpɹɛɡneɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "impregnate"?
The adjective is first attested in 1540, the verb in 1605; borrowed from Medieval Latin impraegnātus, perfect passive participle of Latin impraegnō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of impregn; participia... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter I in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.