maculate
/ˈmækjʊleɪt/
"maculate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“maculate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To spot; to stain; to blur.
Corpus desk
Index EN-maculate · maculate · English
maculate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | maculate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈmækjʊleɪt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “maculate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
maculate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈmækjʊleɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for maculate, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested during the last quarter of the 15th century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English maculaten (“to spoil, polute”), borrowed from Latin maculātus, perfect passive participle of maculō (“to spot”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and … The correct English form is maculate, spelled M-A-C-U-L-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To spot; to stain; to blur.
- 2past participle of maculate
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how maculate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
they wolde nat maculate the honour of their people with suche a reproche
There was a fresh smell in the air. Sidewalks began to be maculated with spreading areas of dryness
Etymology
First attested during the last quarter of the 15th century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English maculaten (“to spoil, polute”), borrowed from Latin maculātus, perfect passive participle of maculō (“to spot”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.