lactate
/ˈlæk.teɪt/
"lactate" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lactate” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #40,773 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #40,773
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To secrete or produce milk.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lactate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈlæk.teɪt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #40,773 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lactate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lactate is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlæk.teɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #40,773 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To secrete or produce milk.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for lactate, with forms such as "alctate", "lacatte", and "lacctate". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "latte", "locate", "lactose", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin lactātus, perfect passive participle of lactō (“to suckle, give suck, contain milk”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from lac (“milk”), cognate to Ancient Greek γάλα (gála, “milk”). The correct English form is lactate, spelled L-A-C-T-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To secrete or produce milk.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin lactātus, perfect passive participle of lactō (“to suckle, give suck, contain milk”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from lac (“milk”), cognate to Ancient Greek γάλα (gála, “milk”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alctate,lacatte,lacctate,lactaet,lactatte,lacttae,lacttate,latcate,lcatate,llactate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lactate - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “lactate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-C-T-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlæk.teɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “latte” - see the side-by-side comparison. lactate vs latte
- 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.