karate

/kəˈɹɑː.ti/

//kəˈɹɑː.ti// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"karate" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“karate” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,942. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,942
frequency rank, English
1,236
“K” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An Okinawan martial art involving primarily punching and kicking, but additionally, advanced throws, arm bars, grappling and all means of fighting.

Corpus desk

Index EN-karate · karate · English

karate · rank #13,942 · 8 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,942
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,236
  • PHOTO-FINISH kara

Nearest frequency peer: kara (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “karate”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “karate” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

karate vs Kate
50% similar
karate vs kart
67% similar
karate vs kara
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for karate
PropertyValue
Headwordkarate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kəˈɹɑː.ti/
Letters6
Frequency rank#13,942
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “karate”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).karatelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “kara” (#13,941), “KC” (#13,943), “kang” (#13,940). Among 1,236 “K” headwords, “karate” is #13,942. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around karate (IPA /kəˈɹɑː.ti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #13,942 among 1,236 “K” headwords. Dominant gloss: "An Okinawan martial art involving primarily punching and kicking, but additionally, advanced throws, arm bars, grappling and all means of fighting.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for karate, with forms such as "akrate", "kaarte", and "karaet". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "Kate", "kart", "kara", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 空(から)手(て) (karate), from 唐(から)手(て) (karate), an orthographic borrowing from Okinawan 唐手(とーでぃー) (tōdī, “Chinese hand”). The correct English form is karate, spelled K-A-R-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An Okinawan martial art involving primarily punching and kicking, but additionally, advanced throws, arm bars, grappling and all means of fighting.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how karate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Wall taught karate at a local nursing home.

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 空(から)手(て) (karate), from 唐(から)手(て) (karate), an orthographic borrowing from Okinawan 唐手(とーでぃー) (tōdī, “Chinese hand”).

This word in other languages

karate(Español)karaté(Français)Karate(Deutsch)karaté(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • akrate
  • kaarte
  • karaet
  • karatte
  • karrate
  • kartae
  • kkarate
  • kraate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of karate - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

akrate2kaarte2karaet2karatte1karrate1kartae2kkarate1kraate2
Edit distance from "karate"

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

How do you spell "karate"?
"karate" is spelled K-A-R-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kəˈɹɑː.ti/.
What does "karate" mean?
As a noun, "karate" means: An Okinawan martial art involving primarily punching and kicking, but additionally, advanced throws, arm bars, grappling and all means of fighting.
What words are commonly confused with "karate"?
"karate" is commonly confused with "Kate", "kart", "kara". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "karate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "karate" is /kəˈɹɑː.ti/. 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 "karate"?
Borrowed from Japanese 空(から)手(て) (karate), from 唐(から)手(て) (karate), an orthographic borrowing from Okinawan 唐手(とーでぃー) (tōdī, “Chinese hand”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "karate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Jensen#13,939Irvine#13,938heater#13,928meteor#13,959

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

messiah8 variantsMonty8 variantsfulfil8 variantsfinch8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list