marinate

/ˈmæɹɪneɪt/

//ˈmæɹɪneɪt// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"marinate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“marinate” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #47,746. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#47,746
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To allow a sauce or flavoring mixture to absorb into something; to steep or soak something in a marinade to flavor or prepare it for cooking.

Corpus desk

Index EN-marinate · marinate · English

marinate · rank #47,746 · 11 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #47,746
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Marburg

Nearest frequency peer: Marburg (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “marinate”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “marinate” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

marinate vs marine
75% similar
marinate vs marina
75% similar
marinate vs magnate
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for marinate
PropertyValue
Headwordmarinate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈmæɹɪneɪt/
Letters8
Frequency rank#47,746
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “marinate”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).marinatelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Marburg” (#47,745), “marque” (#47,747), “mandrake” (#47,743). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “marinate” is #47,746. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around marinate (IPA /ˈmæɹɪneɪt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #47,746 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for marinate, with forms such as "amrinate", "mairnate", and "mariante". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "marine", "marina", "magnate", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1645; adapted from either French mariner or the earlier attested Italian marinare (“to pickle, marinate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Late Latin marina (“brine, salt water”), short for aqua ma… The correct English form is marinate, spelled M-A-R-I-N-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To allow a sauce or flavoring mixture to absorb into something; to steep or soak something in a marinade to flavor or prepare it for cooking.
  2. 2
    Of ideas or feelings, to mentally develop over time.
  3. 3
    Especially of a haircut, to settle in and for one to get used to it.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how marinate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. You'll get a better flavour from the chicken if you marinate it first.
  2. After the chicken has marinated for two hours, discard the remaining marinade.

Etymology

First attested in 1645; adapted from either French mariner or the earlier attested Italian marinare (“to pickle, marinate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Late Latin marina (“brine, salt water”), short for aqua marina (“sea water”), from Latin marinus (“marine, of the sea”), from Latin mare (“the sea”) from Proto-Indo-European *móri (“the sea”).

This word in other languages

adobar(Español)mariner(Français)marinieren(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amrinate
  • mairnate
  • mariante
  • marinaet
  • marinatte
  • marinnate
  • marintae
  • marniate
  • marrinate
  • mmarinate
  • mrainate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of marinate - 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.

amrinate2mairnate2mariante2marinaet2marinatte1marinnate1marintae2marniate2
Edit distance from "marinate"

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 "marinate"?
"marinate" is spelled M-A-R-I-N-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmæɹɪneɪt/.
What does "marinate" mean?
As a verb, "marinate" means: To allow a sauce or flavoring mixture to absorb into something; to steep or soak something in a marinade to flavor or prepare it for cooking.
What words are commonly confused with "marinate"?
"marinate" is commonly confused with "marine", "marina", "magnate". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "marinate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "marinate" is /ˈmæɹɪneɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "marinate"?
First attested in 1645; adapted from either French mariner or the earlier attested Italian marinare (“to pickle, marinate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Late Latin marina (“brine, salt water”), short f... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "marinate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mandrake#47,743mashable#47,750linesman#47,729Montreux#47,770

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

Marburg11 variantsMcVeigh11 variantsJodhpur11 variantsJacobite11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list