nates
/ˈneɪtiːz/
"nates" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nates” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The two anterior of the four lobes on the dorsal side of the midbrain of most mammals; the anterior optic lobes.
Corpus desk
Index EN-nates · nates · English
nates · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "N" 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 | nates |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈneɪtiːz/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “nates” in English
Rare enough to double-check
nates is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈneɪtiːz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for nates, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin natēs, plural of natis. The correct English form is nates, spelled N-A-T-E-S.
Definition
- 1The two anterior of the four lobes on the dorsal side of the midbrain of most mammals; the anterior optic lobes.
- 2The buttocks.
- 3The umbones of a bivalve shell.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how nates appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Enderby watched her warily as she lay prone, having kicked the clothes off the bed, her nates silvered by the Roman moonlight to the likeness of a meringue.
He sat cross-legged on a damask pillow and scrutinized the pale puckered nates with the air of an epicure examining a fly in his vichyssoise.
Etymology
From Latin natēs, plural of natis.
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.