receive
/ɹɪˈsiːv/
"receive" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“receive” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,496. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,496
- frequency rank, English
- 21,470
- “R” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To be given, sent, or paid something.
Corpus desk
Index EN-receive · receive · English
receive · rank #1,496 · 9 variants · 15 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,496
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 15 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 21,470
- PHOTO-FINISH reached
Nearest frequency peer: reached (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “receive”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- prior
prior
98,508 corpus weight
- protection
protection
98,507 corpus weight
- reached
reached
98,506 corpus weight
- receive
receive
98,505 corpus weight
- religious
religious
98,504 corpus weight
- ride
ride
98,503 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “receive” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | receive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈsiːv/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #1,496 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “receive” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around receive (IPA /ɹɪˈsiːv/), averb. Corpus frequency is #1,496 among 21,470 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for receive, with forms such as "erceive", "rceeive", and "recceive". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "reeve", "recipe", "revive", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English receyven, from Old French receivre, from Latin recipere (“take back, accept, etc.”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“to take”); see capacious. Compare conceive, deceive, perceive. Displaced native Middle English terms in -fon/-fangen (e.g. a… The correct English form is receive, spelled R-E-C-E-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1To be given, sent, or paid something.
- 2To take, as something that is offered; to accept.
- 3To take goods knowing them to be stolen.
- 4To act as a host for guests; to give admittance to; to permit to enter, as into one's house, presence, company, etc.
- 5To incur (an injury).
- 6To allow (a custom, tradition, etc.); to give credence or acceptance to.
- 7To detect a signal from a transmitter.
- 8To be in a position to take possession, or hit back the ball.
- 9To be in a position to take possession, or hit back the ball.
- 10To accept into the mind; to understand.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how receive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He received many presents for his birthday.
Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
Etymology
From Middle English receyven, from Old French receivre, from Latin recipere (“take back, accept, etc.”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“to take”); see capacious. Compare conceive, deceive, perceive. Displaced native Middle English terms in -fon/-fangen (e.g. afon, anfon, afangen, underfangen, etc. "to receive" from Old English -fōn), native Middle English thiggen (“to receive”) (from Old English þiċġan), and non-native Middle English aquilen, enquilen (“to receive”) (from Old French aquillir, encueillir).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- erceive
- rceeive
- recceive
- receiev
- receivve
- recevie
- recieve
- reecive
- rreceive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of receive - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "receive"?
What does "receive" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "receive", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.