percolate
/ˈpɜːkəleɪt/
"percolate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“percolate” is uncommon English (frequency #79,847 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #79,847
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To pass a liquid through a porous substance; to filter.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | percolate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈpɜːkəleɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #79,847 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “percolate” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
percolate is uncommon English at frequency #79,847 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈpɜːkəleɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
percolate has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin percōlātus, perfect passive participle of percōlō (“to filter”), itself, from per (“through”) + cōlō (“to strain”) (from cōlum (“a strainer”), of unknown origin); see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix). The correct English form is percolate, spelled P-E-R-C-O-L-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To pass a liquid through a porous substance; to filter.
- 2To drain or seep through a porous substance.
- 3To make (coffee) in a percolator.
- 4(of coffee) to be prepared by percolation; (of a coffee pot) to brew coffee in this way.
- 5To spread slowly or gradually; to slowly become noticed or realised.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin percōlātus, perfect passive participle of percōlō (“to filter”), itself, from per (“through”) + cōlō (“to strain”) (from cōlum (“a strainer”), of unknown origin); see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix).
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); 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
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Using “percolate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-C-O-L-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɜːkəleɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.