pollinate
/ˈpɒlɪneɪt/verb, adjective
pollinate is spelled P-O-L-L-I-N-A-T-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, pollinate means “To apply pollen to (a stigma)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in pollinate?
| Letters | 9: P-O-L-L-I-N-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 57,423rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is pollinate?
Pollinate appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd 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 pollinate?
- /ˈpɒlɪneɪt/
Pollinate has 3 syllables (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-pollinate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pollinate
- pollinates present, singular, he/she/it
- pollinating participle, present
- pollinated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pollinate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To apply pollen to (a stigma).
pollinate plants
adjective
- 1
Pollinose.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pollinate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to apply pollen to:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | polliniser |
| German | bestäuben |
| Portuguese | polinizar |
| Spanish | polinizar |
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 pollinate come from?
From pollin- (compound form of "pollen") + -ate (verb-forming suffix). From oblique stem of Latin pollen, pollinis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).