incarcerate
/ɪnˈkɑː.səˌɹeɪt/
"incarcerate" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“incarcerate” is an uncommon English word, ranked #74,189 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #74,189
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To lock away; to imprison, especially for breaking the law.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | incarcerate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɪnˈkɑː.səˌɹeɪt/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #74,189 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “incarcerate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for incarcerate is 11 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪnˈkɑː.səˌɹeɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #74,189 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for incarcerate, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1575; borrowed from Medieval Latin incarcerātus, perfect passive participle of incarcerō (“to imprison”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin in- (“in”) + carce… The correct English form is incarcerate, spelled I-N-C-A-R-C-E-R-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To lock away; to imprison, especially for breaking the law.
- 2To confine; to shut up or enclose; to hem in.
Etymology
The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1575; borrowed from Medieval Latin incarcerātus, perfect passive participle of incarcerō (“to imprison”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin in- (“in”) + carcer (“a prison”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Common participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
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 “incarcerate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-C-A-R-C-E-R-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪnˈkɑː.səˌɹeɪt/ (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.