meditate

/ˈmɛ.dɪˌteɪt/

//ˈmɛ.dɪˌteɪt// verb

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

The verdict

“meditate” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,705. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,705
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To contemplate; to keep the mind fixed upon something; to study.

Corpus desk

Index EN-meditate · meditate · English

meditate · rank #20,705 · 11 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,705
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH McGrath

Nearest frequency peer: McGrath (-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 “meditate”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “meditate” 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).

meditate vs meditative
80% similar
meditate vs mediate
88% similar
meditate vs medicare
75% similar

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

Key facts for meditate
PropertyValue
Headwordmeditate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈmɛ.dɪˌteɪt/
Letters8
Frequency rank#20,705
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “meditate”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).meditatelands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “McGrath” (#20,704), “mercenary” (#20,706), “McGill” (#20,703). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “meditate” is #20,705. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around meditate (IPA /ˈmɛ.dɪˌteɪt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #20,705 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 meditate, with forms such as "emditate", "mdeitate", and "medditate". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "meditative", "mediate", "medicare", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1560; borrowed from Latin meditātus, perfect active participle of meditor (“to think or reflect upon, consider, design, purpose, intend”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), morphologically as if frequenta… The correct English form is meditate, spelled M-E-D-I-T-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To contemplate; to keep the mind fixed upon something; to study.
  2. 2
    To sit or lie down and come to a deep rest while still remaining conscious.
  3. 3
    To consider; to reflect on.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. […] yet I can by no means be persuaded that he could find leisure enough to write so many copies of it in his solitudes and sufferings, in the midst of treaties, in the hurry of removals, while he meditated his escape, and was strictly observ'd by his guards.
  2. He lay and meditated the sluggishness of his bowels. This created pictures of chrome and porcelain and attendant circumstances.

Etymology

First attested in 1560; borrowed from Latin meditātus, perfect active participle of meditor (“to think or reflect upon, consider, design, purpose, intend”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), morphologically as if frequentative of medeor (“to heal, to cure, to remedy”); in sense and in form near to Ancient Greek μελετάω (meletáō, “to care for, attend to, study, practise, etc.”). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emditate
  • mdeitate
  • medditate
  • mediatte
  • meditaet
  • meditatte
  • medittae
  • medittate
  • medtiate
  • meidtate
  • mmeditate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

emditate2mdeitate2medditate1mediatte2meditaet2meditatte1medittae2medittate1
Edit distance from "meditate"

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 "meditate"?
"meditate" is spelled M-E-D-I-T-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɛ.dɪˌteɪt/.
What does "meditate" mean?
As a verb, "meditate" means: To contemplate; to keep the mind fixed upon something; to study.
What words are commonly confused with "meditate"?
"meditate" is commonly confused with "meditative", "mediate", "medicare". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "meditate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "meditate" is /ˈmɛ.dɪˌteɪt/. 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 "meditate"?
First attested in 1560; borrowed from Latin meditātus, perfect active participle of meditor (“to think or reflect upon, consider, design, purpose, intend”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), morphologically as if... 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 "meditate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list