levitate
/ˈlɛvɪteɪt/
"levitate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“levitate” is uncommon English (frequency #51,821 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #51,821
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To cause to rise in the air and float, as if in defiance of gravity.
Corpus desk
Index EN-levitate · levitate · English
levitate · rank #51,821 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #51,821
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH lethality
Nearest frequency peer: lethality (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “levitate”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Legoland
Legoland
48,184 corpus weight
- Leong
Leong
48,182 corpus weight
- lethality
lethality
48,181 corpus weight
- levitate
levitate
48,180 corpus weight
- levitation
levitation
48,179 corpus weight
- Lilley
Lilley
48,177 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “levitate” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | levitate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈlɛvɪteɪt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #51,821 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “levitate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
levitate is uncommon English at frequency #51,821 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈlɛvɪteɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for levitate, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1673; borrowed from New Latin levitātus, perfect passive participle of levitō (“to levitate; to have one's motion directed upward, as opposed to the downward motion induced by gravity”) (first attested c. 1670), modeled on gravitō (“to gra… The correct English form is levitate, spelled L-E-V-I-T-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To cause to rise in the air and float, as if in defiance of gravity.
- 2To be suspended in the air, as if in defiance of gravity.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how levitate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The magician levitated the woman.
The guru claimed that he could levitate.
Etymology
First attested in 1673; borrowed from New Latin levitātus, perfect passive participle of levitō (“to levitate; to have one's motion directed upward, as opposed to the downward motion induced by gravity”) (first attested c. 1670), modeled on gravitō (“to gravitate”) (← Latin gravis (“heavy”)), from levis (“light”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
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
How do you spell "levitate"?
What does "levitate" mean?
How do you pronounce "levitate"?
What is the origin of the word "levitate"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "levitate", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).