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prompt

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

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "prompt", 6-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 "prompt" 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 "prompt" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

prompt is anEnglishadj. It means: Quick; acting without delay. Pronounced /pɹɒmpt/. It ranks #8,845 in English word frequency. Often confused with prop and Prot.

Key facts for prompt
PropertyValue
Headwordprompt
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
IPA/pɹɒmpt/
Letters6
Frequency rank#8,845
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for prompt is 6 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɹɒmpt/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,845 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 10 documented wrong-spelling variants for prompt, with forms such as "pormpt", "pprompt", and "prmopt". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "prop", "Prot", "props", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is from Middle English prompte, from Middle French prompt and its etymon Latin prōmptus (“visible, apparent, evident”), past participle of prōmō (“to take or bring out or forth, produce, bring to light”), from prō (“forth, forward”) + emō (“to… 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 prompt, spelled P-R-O-M-P-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Quick; acting without delay.
  2. 2
    On time; punctual.
  3. 3
    Ready; willing to act.
  4. 4
    Front: closest or nearest, in futures trading.

Etymology

The adjective is from Middle English prompte, from Middle French prompt and its etymon Latin prōmptus (“visible, apparent, evident”), past participle of prōmō (“to take or bring out or forth, produce, bring to light”), from prō (“forth, forward”) + emō (“to take, acquire, buy”). Doublet of pronto. The verb is from Middle English prompen, apparently from the adjective. The noun is from the verb.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: pormpt,pprompt,prmopt,prommpt,promppt,promptt,promtp,propmt,prrompt,rpompt

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for prompt

Misspelling Variants of "prompt"

pormpt6pprompt7prmopt6prommpt7promppt7promptt7promtp6propmt6
Misspelling Variants of "prompt"

Frequency rank: #8,845 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "prompt"?
"prompt" is spelled P-R-O-M-P-T. The IPA pronunciation is /pɹɒmpt/.
What does "prompt" mean?
As an adj, "prompt" means: Quick; acting without delay.
What words are commonly confused with "prompt"?
"prompt" is commonly confused with "prop", "Prot", "props". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "prompt"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "prompt" is /pɹɒmpt/. 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 "prompt"?
The adjective is from Middle English prompte, from Middle French prompt and its etymon Latin prōmptus (“visible, apparent, evident”), past participle of prōmō (“to take or bring out or forth, produce, bring to light”), from prō (“forth, forward”) ... 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.