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predicate

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "predicate", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "predicate" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "predicate" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

predicate is aEnglishnoun. It means: The part of the sentence (or clause) which states a property that a subject has or is characterized by. Pronounced /ˈpɹɛd.ɪ.kət/. Often confused with predict and predicted.

Key facts for predicate
PropertyValue
Headwordpredicate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɹɛd.ɪ.kət/
Letters9
Frequency rank#35,029
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of predicate in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for predicate is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɹɛd.ɪ.kət/. Corpus data places it at rank #35,029 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for predicate, with forms such as "perdicate", "ppredicate", and "prdeicate". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "predict", "predicted", "predicated", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English predicat(e), from Old French predicat (French prédicat), from Medieval Latin praedicātum (“thing said of a subject, predicate”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of praedicātus, the perfect passive participle praedicō (… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is predicate, spelled P-R-E-D-I-C-A-T-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The part of the sentence (or clause) which states a property that a subject has or is characterized by.
  2. 2
    A term of a statement, where the statement may be true or false depending on whether the thing referred to by the values of the statement's variables has the property signified by that (predicative) term.
  3. 3
    An operator, expression, or function that returns either true or false.

Etymology

From Middle English predicat(e), from Old French predicat (French prédicat), from Medieval Latin praedicātum (“thing said of a subject, predicate”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of praedicātus, the perfect passive participle praedicō (“to proclaim”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix); see also Etymology 2 below. The adjective was derived from the noun by metanalysis, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: perdicate,ppredicate,prdeicate,predciate,preddicate,prediacte,predicaet,predicatte,prediccate,predictae,preidcate,prredicate,rpedicate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for predicate

Misspelling Variants of "predicate"

perdicate9ppredicate10prdeicate9predciate9preddicate10prediacte9predicaet9predicatte10
Misspelling Variants of "predicate"

Frequency rank: #35,029 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "predicate"?
"predicate" is spelled P-R-E-D-I-C-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɹɛd.ɪ.kət/.
What does "predicate" mean?
As a noun, "predicate" means: The part of the sentence (or clause) which states a property that a subject has or is characterized by.
What words are commonly confused with "predicate"?
"predicate" is commonly confused with "predict", "predicted", "predicated". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "predicate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "predicate" is /ˈpɹɛd.ɪ.kət/. 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 "predicate"?
From Middle English predicat(e), from Old French predicat (French prédicat), from Medieval Latin praedicātum (“thing said of a subject, predicate”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of praedicātus, the perfect passive participle ... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.