litigate
/ˈlɪtɪɡeɪt/
"litigate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“litigate” is uncommon English (frequency #57,521 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,521
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To go to law; to carry on a lawsuit.
Corpus desk
Index EN-litigate · litigate · English
litigate · rank #57,521 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #57,521
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH Lipman
Nearest frequency peer: Lipman (-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 “litigate”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- leucine
leucine
42,484 corpus weight
- lineal
lineal
42,482 corpus weight
- Lipman
Lipman
42,481 corpus weight
- litigate
litigate
42,480 corpus weight
- livre
livre
42,479 corpus weight
- Lockport
Lockport
42,476 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “litigate” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | litigate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈlɪtɪɡeɪt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #57,521 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “litigate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
litigate is uncommon English at frequency #57,521 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈlɪtɪɡeɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for litigate, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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). The correct English form is litigate, spelled L-I-T-I-G-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To go to law; to carry on a lawsuit.
- 2To contest in law.
- 3To dispute; to fight over.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how litigate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ain't got no place to lay your head / Somebody came and took your bed / Don't worry, be happy / The landlord say your rent is late / He may have to litigate
you can't keep litigating this same point!
Etymology
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).
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "litigate", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).