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raise

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

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Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "raise", 5-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 "raise" 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 "raise" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

raise is aEnglishverb. It means: To cause to rise; to lift or elevate. Pronounced /ɹeɪz/. It ranks #1,836 in English word frequency. Often confused with ras and rate.

Key facts for raise
PropertyValue
Headwordraise
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ɹeɪz/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,836
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for raise is 5 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹeɪz/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,836 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 26 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for raise, with forms such as "raies", "raisse", and "rasie". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ras", "rate", "risk", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English reysen, raisen, reisen, from Old Norse reisa (“to raise”), from Proto-Germanic *raisijaną, *raizijaną (“to raise”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *rīsaną (“to rise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to rise, arise”). According to K… 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 raise, spelled R-A-I-S-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
  2. 2
    To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
  3. 3
    To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
  4. 4
    To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
  5. 5
    To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
  6. 6
    To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
  7. 7
    To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
  8. 8
    To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
  9. 9
    To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
  10. 10
    To create, increase or develop.
  11. 11
    To create, increase or develop.
  12. 12
    To create, increase or develop.
  13. 13
    To create, increase or develop.
  14. 14
    To create, increase or develop.
  15. 15
    To create, increase or develop.
  16. 16
    To create, increase or develop.
  17. 17
    To create, increase or develop.
  18. 18
    To establish contact with (e.g., by telephone or radio).
  19. 19
    To respond to a bet by increasing the amount required to continue in the hand.
  20. 20
    To exponentiate, to involute.
  21. 21
    To extract (a subject or other verb argument) out of an inner clause.
  22. 22
    To produce a vowel with the tongue positioned closer to the roof of the mouth.
  23. 23
    To increase the nominal value of (a cheque, money order, etc.) by fraudulently changing the writing or printing in which the sum payable is specified.
  24. 24
    To instantiate and transmit (an exception, by throwing it, or an event).
  25. 25
    To open, initiate.
  26. 26
    Misspelling of raze.

Etymology

From Middle English reysen, raisen, reisen, from Old Norse reisa (“to raise”), from Proto-Germanic *raisijaną, *raizijaną (“to raise”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *rīsaną (“to rise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to rise, arise”). According to Kroonen (2013), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to stir, rise”). Cognate with Old English rāsian (“to explore, examine, research”), Old English rīsan (“to seize, carry off”), Old English rǣran (“to raise”). Doublet of rear.

Synonyms

lift

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: raies,raisse,rasie,riase,rraise

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for raise

Misspelling Variants of "raise"

raies5raisse6rasie5riase5rraise6
Misspelling Variants of "raise"

Frequency rank: #1,836 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "raise"?
"raise" is spelled R-A-I-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹeɪz/.
What does "raise" mean?
As a verb, "raise" means: To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.
What words are commonly confused with "raise"?
"raise" is commonly confused with "ras", "rate", "risk". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "raise"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "raise" is /ɹeɪz/. 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 "raise"?
From Middle English reysen, raisen, reisen, from Old Norse reisa (“to raise”), from Proto-Germanic *raisijaną, *raizijaną (“to raise”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *rīsaną (“to rise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to rise, arise”). Acco... 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 R 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.