litigate
/ˈlɪtɪɡeɪt/verb
litigate is spelled L-I-T-I-G-A-T-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, litigate means “To go to law; to carry on a lawsuit” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in litigate?
| Letters | 8: L-I-T-I-G-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 57,423rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is litigate?
Litigate appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce litigate?
- /ˈlɪtɪɡeɪt/
Litigate has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-litigate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of litigate
- litigates present, singular, he/she/it
- litigating participle, present
- litigated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does litigate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To go to law; to carry on a lawsuit.
- 2
To contest in law.
- 3
To dispute; to fight over.
You can't keep litigating this same point!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Litigate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to go to law:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | prozessieren |
| Portuguese | litigar |
| Spanish | litigar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does litigate come from?
First attested in 1606; borrowed from Latin lītigātus, perfect passive participle of lītigō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from līs (“a lawsuit”, oblique stem in līt-) + -igō (denominative verb-forming suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).