pollinate

/ˈpɒlɪneɪt/

//ˈpɒlɪneɪt// verb

"pollinate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pollinate” is uncommon English (frequency #57,642 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,642
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To apply pollen to (a stigma).

Corpus desk

Index EN-pollinate · pollinate · English

pollinate · rank #57,642 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,642
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH politique

Nearest frequency peer: politique (-1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “pollinate”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “pollinate” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for pollinate
PropertyValue
Headwordpollinate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈpɒlɪneɪt/
Letters9
Frequency rank#57,642
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “pollinate” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).pollinatefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “politique” (#57,641), “polymorphic” (#57,643), “poetically” (#57,639). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pollinate” is #57,642. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pollinate is uncommon English at frequency #57,642 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈpɒlɪneɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To apply pollen to (a stigma).".

No misspelling variants are generated for pollinate in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From pollin- (compound form of "pollen") + -ate (verb-forming suffix). The correct English form is pollinate, spelled P-O-L-L-I-N-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To apply pollen to (a stigma).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how pollinate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. pollinate plants
  2. pollinate flowers

Etymology

From pollin- (compound form of "pollen") + -ate (verb-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

How do you spell "pollinate"?
"pollinate" is spelled P-O-L-L-I-N-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɒlɪneɪt/.
What does "pollinate" mean?
As a verb, "pollinate" means: To apply pollen to (a stigma).
How do you pronounce "pollinate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pollinate" is /ˈpɒlɪneɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "pollinate"?
From pollin- (compound form of "pollen") + -ate (verb-forming suffix). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pollinate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list