irradiate
/ɪˈɹeɪdɪət/
"irradiate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“irradiate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Made brilliant or bright; irradiated, illuminated.
Corpus desk
Index EN-irradiate · irradiate · English
irradiate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "I" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | irradiate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪˈɹeɪdɪət/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “irradiate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
irradiate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ɪˈɹeɪdɪət/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
irradiate doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English irradiate (“illuminated, shining”), borrowed from Medieval Latin irradiātus, perfect passive participle of irradiō, from ir- (“against; into; on, upon”) + radiō (“to cause to radiate, irradiate; to emit beams, radiate”), from radius (“ra… The correct English form is irradiate, spelled I-R-R-A-D-I-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1Made brilliant or bright; irradiated, illuminated.
- 2Made splendid or wonderful.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how irradiate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
There ſeek the Theban Bard, depriv'd of ſight, / VVithin, irradiate vvith prophetic light; […]
The co-existent Flame / Knew the Destroyer; it encircled him, / Roll'd up his robe, and gathered round his head, / Condensing to intenser splendour there, / His crown of glory, and his light of life, / Hovered the irradiate wreath.
Etymology
From Middle English irradiate (“illuminated, shining”), borrowed from Medieval Latin irradiātus, perfect passive participle of irradiō, from ir- (“against; into; on, upon”) + radiō (“to cause to radiate, irradiate; to emit beams, radiate”), from radius (“ray of light; rod, staff; spoke of a wheel”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix) (further etymology uncertain; possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁t- (“beam; pole; post”)). The adjective is attested earlier than the verb. The English word is analysable as in- (“against; into; on, upon”) + radiate.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.