penetrate
pen·e·trate/ˈpɛnɪtɹeɪt/verb
penetrate is spelled P-E-N-E-T-R-A-T-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables (pen·e·trate). It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, penetrate means “To enter into; to make way into the interior of; to pierce” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in penetrate?
| Letters | 9: P-E-N-E-T-R-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: pen·e·trate |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is penetrate?
Penetrate appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce penetrate?
- /ˈpɛnɪtɹeɪt/
- /ˈpɛnətɹeɪt/
Penetrate has 3 syllables, split pen·e·trate in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-penetrate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of penetrate
- penetrates present, singular, he/she/it
- penetrating participle, present
- penetrated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does penetrate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To enter into; to make way into the interior of; to pierce.
Light penetrates darkness.
- 2
To achieve understanding of, despite some obstacle; to comprehend; to understand.
I could not penetrate Burke's opaque rhetoric.
- 3
To affect profoundly through the senses or feelings; to move deeply.
to penetrate one's heart with pity
- 4
To infiltrate an enemy to gather intelligence.
- 5
To insert the penis into an orifice, such as a vagina, mouth, or anus.
a male elephant comes up and penetrates the female
- 6
To move a piece past the defending pieces of one's opponent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Penetrate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense enter into:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pénétrer |
| German | eindringen, penetrieren |
| Portuguese | penetrar |
| Spanish | penetrar |
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 penetrate come from?
From Latin penētrātus, perfect passive participle of penētrō (“to put, set, or place within, enter, pierce, penetrate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from penes (“within, with”) by analogy to intrō (“to go in, enter”). Compare French pénétrer.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).