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iterate

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

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "iterate", 7-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 "iterate" 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 "iterate" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

iterate is aEnglishverb. It means: To perform or repeat an action on each item in a set. Pronounced /ˈɪtəɹeɪt/.

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Key facts for iterate
PropertyValue
Headworditerate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈɪtəɹeɪt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#52,416
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for iterate is 7 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɪtəɹeɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #52,416 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for iterate 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 1471, in Middle English, the verb in 1533, the noun in 1941; partly inherited from Middle English iterat(e) (adjective), partly borrowed from Latin iterātus, perfect passive participle of iterō (“to do something for a seco… 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 iterate, spelled I-T-E-R-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 perform or repeat an action on each item in a set.
  2. 2
    To perform or repeat an action on the results of each such prior action.
  3. 3
    To utter or do a second time or many times; to repeat.
  4. 4
    To repeat an activity, making incremental changes each time.

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in 1471, in Middle English, the verb in 1533, the noun in 1941; partly inherited from Middle English iterat(e) (adjective), partly borrowed from Latin iterātus, perfect passive participle of iterō (“to do something for a second time, repeat”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)) , from iterum (“again”) + -ō. Sporadical participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

This word in other languages

Frequency rank: #52,416 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "iterate"?
"iterate" is spelled I-T-E-R-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɪtəɹeɪt/.
What does "iterate" mean?
As a verb, "iterate" means: To perform or repeat an action on each item in a set.
How do you pronounce "iterate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "iterate" is /ˈɪtəɹeɪt/. 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 "iterate"?
The adjective is first attested in 1471, in Middle English, the verb in 1533, the noun in 1941; partly inherited from Middle English iterat(e) (adjective), partly borrowed from Latin iterātus, perfect passive participle of iterō (“to do something ... 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.