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pate

/ˈpæt.eɪ/noun

pate is spelled P-A-T-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,636th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Pate, the name). As a noun, pate means “Alternative spelling of pâté (finely-ground paste of meat, fish, etc.)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pate is pates or pâtés.

How many letters and syllables are in pate?

Letters4: P-A-T-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 33,636th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is pate?

Pate appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,636th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Pate, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pate?

  • /ˈpæt.eɪ/
  • /pæˈteɪ/

As a noun (“The head, particularly the top or crown”): /peɪt/.

Pate has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pate.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pâté.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pâté2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with pate?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as pate.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: tape, peat, tepa.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of pate

  • pates plural
  • pâtés plural
  • paté
  • patés plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pate mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Alternative spelling of pâté (finely-ground paste of meat, fish, etc.)

  2. 2

    The interior body, or non-rind portion of cheese, described by its texture, density, and color.

  3. 3

    archaicThe head, particularly the top or crown.

    He had a shiny, bald pate.

  4. 4

    archaicWit, cleverness, cognitive abilities.

noun

as pâté
  1. 1

    A finely-ground paste of meat, fish or vegetables, sometimes with the addition of alcohol.

noun

as paté
  1. 1

    Alternative form of pâté.

adjective

as paté
  1. 1

    Alternative form of patté.

    a cross paté

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Spanishcorona (top of the head), vivaracho (wit, cleverness), paté, pasta de carne (finely-ground paste of meat, fish or vegetables)
Frenchpâté (finely-ground paste of meat, fish or vegetables)
GermanPastete, Paste, Streichwurst, Aufstrich (finely-ground paste of meat, fish or vegetables)
Portuguesepatê (finely-ground paste of meat, fish or vegetables)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does pate come from?

Attested since circa 1700, from French pâté, from Old French paste, pastée. Doublet of pâté and patty.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after pate