recede
/ɹɪˈsiːd/verb
recede is spelled R-E-C-E-D-E. The wrong spelling people search most is receed: about 90 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 2 in 10 of all searches for the word. Recede is a verb meaning “To move back; to retreat; to withdraw”.
How many letters and syllables are in recede?
| Letters | 6: R-E-C-E-D-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 41,154th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, receed, about 90 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Same letters |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell recede?
Recede is spelled R-E-C-E-D-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for recede in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is recede?
Recede appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th 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 recede?
- /ɹɪˈsiːd/
Recede has 2 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-recede.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with recede?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as recede.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: decree.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of recede
- recedes present, singular, he/she/it
- receding participle, present
- receded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does recede mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To move back; to retreat; to withdraw.
- 2
To cede back; to grant or yield again to a former possessor.
to recede conquered territory
- 3
To take back.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Recede in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense move back, move away:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | reculer, se retirer |
| German | zurückgehen, schwinden |
| Spanish | alejarse, retroceder, recejar, recular, ciar, cejar |
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 recede come from?
Inherited from Middle English receden, from Middle French receder and its etymon Latin recedere (“to withdraw; to go back”), from re- + cedere (“to go”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).