# marinate

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈmæɹɪneɪt/ · frequency rank #47,746

## Definitions
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. Of ideas or feelings, to mentally develop over time.
3. Especially of a haircut, to settle in and for one to get used to it.

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **marine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/marinate-vs-marine)
- **marina** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/marina-vs-marinate)
- **magnate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/magnate-vs-marinate)
- **Margate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/margate-vs-marinate)
- **marinade** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/marinade-vs-marinate)

## Common misspellings (11)
`amrinate`, `mairnate`, `mariante`, `marinaet`, `marinatte`, `marinnate`, `marintae`, `marniate`, `marrinate`, `mmarinate`, `mrainate`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/marinate