recipe

/ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/

//ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"recipe" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“recipe” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,886. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,886
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
16
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A formula for preparing or using a medicine; a prescription; also, a medicine prepared from such instructions.

Corpus desk

Index EN-recipe · recipe · English

recipe · rank #4,886 · 8 variants · 16 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,886
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 16 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH reception

Nearest frequency peer: reception (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “recipe”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “recipe” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

recipe vs ripe
67% similar
recipe vs regime
67% similar
recipe vs retire
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for recipe
PropertyValue
Headwordrecipe
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/
Letters6
Frequency rank#4,886
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs16
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “recipe”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).recipelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “reception” (#4,885), “regulatory” (#4,887), “ranks” (#4,884). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “recipe” is #4,886. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around recipe (IPA /ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,886 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for recipe, with forms such as "ercipe", "rceipe", and "reccipe". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 16 confusable-pair relationships, "ripe", "regime", "retire", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French récipé, from Latin recipe, second person singular imperative of Latin recipiō (“receive”). Doublet of recept and receipt. The correct English form is recipe, spelled R-E-C-I-P-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A formula for preparing or using a medicine; a prescription; also, a medicine prepared from such instructions.
  2. 2
    Any set of instructions for preparing a mixture of ingredients.
  3. 3
    A plan or procedure to obtain a given end result; a prescription.
  4. 4
    Now especially, a set of instructions for making or preparing food dishes.
  5. 5
    A set of conditions and parameters of an industrial process to obtain a given result.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how recipe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. As the world's drug habit shows, governments are failing in their quest to monitor every London window-box and Andean hillside for banned plants. But even that Sisyphean task looks easy next to the fight against synthetic drugs. No sooner has a drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one.
  2. [Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes. The truth is that Newton was very much a product of his time.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French récipé, from Latin recipe, second person singular imperative of Latin recipiō (“receive”). Doublet of recept and receipt.

Synonyms

receipt

This word in other languages

receta(Español)recette(Français)Rezept(Deutsch)receita(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ercipe
  • rceipe
  • reccipe
  • reciep
  • recippe
  • recpie
  • reicpe
  • rrecipe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of recipe - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ercipe2rceipe2reccipe1reciep2recippe1recpie2reicpe2rrecipe1
Edit distance from "recipe"

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "recipe"?
"recipe" is spelled R-E-C-I-P-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/.
What does "recipe" mean?
As a noun, "recipe" means: A formula for preparing or using a medicine; a prescription; also, a medicine prepared from such instructions.
What words are commonly confused with "recipe"?
"recipe" is commonly confused with "ripe", "regime", "retire". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "recipe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "recipe" is /ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/. 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 "recipe"?
Borrowed from Middle French récipé, from Latin recipe, second person singular imperative of Latin recipiō (“receive”). Doublet of recept and receipt. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "recipe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

rubber#4,890serial#4,892Parker#4,877strict#4,898

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

ranks8 variantstrips8 variantsappeals8 variantsclimb8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list