palpate
/ˈpælpeɪt/
"palpate" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“palpate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To examine or otherwise explore through touch, particularly (medicine) in reference to an area or organ of the human body.
Corpus desk
Index EN-palpate · palpate · English
palpate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" 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 | palpate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈpælpeɪt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “palpate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
palpate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈpælpeɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To examine or otherwise explore through touch, particularly (medicine) in reference to an area or organ of the human body.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for palpate, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin palpātus, perfect passive participle of palpō (“touch softly”). The correct English form is palpate, spelled P-A-L-P-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To examine or otherwise explore through touch, particularly (medicine) in reference to an area or organ of the human body.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how palpate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I palpated his expired heart.
David reached inside with his fingers and palpated a logic board.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin palpātus, perfect passive participle of palpō (“touch softly”).
Synonyms
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.