recommend

/ˌɹɛkəˈmɛnd/

//ˌɹɛkəˈmɛnd// verb

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

"recommend" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“recommend” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,459. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,459
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To bestow commendation on; to represent favourably; to suggest, endorse or encourage as an appropriate choice.

Corpus desk

Index EN-recommend · recommend · English

recommend · rank #2,459 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,459
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH perfectly

Nearest frequency peer: perfectly (-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 “recommend”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “recommend” 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).

recommend vs recommended
82% similar

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

Key facts for recommend
PropertyValue
Headwordrecommend
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˌɹɛkəˈmɛnd/
Letters9
Frequency rank#2,459
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “recommend”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).recommendlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “perfectly” (#2,458), “referred” (#2,460), “papers” (#2,457). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “recommend” is #2,459. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around recommend (IPA /ˌɹɛkəˈmɛnd/), averb. Corpus frequency is #2,459 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for recommend, with forms such as "ercommend", "rceommend", and "reccommend". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "recommended", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English recommenden, from Old French recommender (compare French recommander), from Latin re- + commendāre (“to commend, commit; to recommend”), from con- + mandāre (“commit, intrust, enjoin”), from manus (“hand, handwriting, power”) + dare (“to… The correct English form is recommend, spelled R-E-C-O-M-M-E-N-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    To bestow commendation on; to represent favourably; to suggest, endorse or encourage as an appropriate choice.
  2. 2
    To make acceptable; to attract favor to.
  3. 3
    To advise, propose, counsel favorably.
  4. 4
    To commit, confide to another's care, confidence or acceptance, with favoring representations

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The board recommends Philips, given his ample experience in similar positions.
  2. A city that has much to recommend it.

Etymology

From Middle English recommenden, from Old French recommender (compare French recommander), from Latin re- + commendāre (“to commend, commit; to recommend”), from con- + mandāre (“commit, intrust, enjoin”), from manus (“hand, handwriting, power”) + dare (“to give; to offer or render”). Compare typologically Bulgarian препоръчам (preporǎčam), Serbo-Croatian препоручити, Slovene priporočiti, Czech doporučit, Slovak odporučiť (the same meaning); Russian поручи́ться (poručítʹsja), пору́ка (porúka), поручи́тельство (poručítelʹstvo) (close meaning), all related to Proto-Slavic *rǫka (Bulgarian ръка (rǎka), Russian рука́ (ruká)).

Antonyms

deprecatedisrecommenddiscouragedisapproveoppose

This word in other languages

recomendar(Español)recommander(Français)empfehlen(Deutsch)recomendar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ercommend
  • rceommend
  • reccommend
  • recmomend
  • recomemnd
  • recomend
  • recommedn
  • recommendd
  • recommennd
  • recommned
  • reocmmend
  • rrecommend

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of recommend - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ercommend2rceommend2reccommend1recmomend2recomemnd2recomend1recommedn2recommendd1
Edit distance from "recommend"

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 "recommend"?
"recommend" is spelled R-E-C-O-M-M-E-N-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌɹɛkəˈmɛnd/.
What does "recommend" mean?
As a verb, "recommend" means: To bestow commendation on; to represent favourably; to suggest, endorse or encourage as an appropriate choice.
What words are commonly confused with "recommend"?
"recommend" is commonly confused with "recommended". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "recommend"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "recommend" is /ˌɹɛkəˈmɛnd/. 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 "recommend"?
From Middle English recommenden, from Old French recommender (compare French recommander), from Latin re- + commendāre (“to commend, commit; to recommend”), from con- + mandāre (“commit, intrust, enjoin”), from manus (“hand, handwriting, power”) +... 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 "recommend", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

perfectly#2,458essential#2,440destroyed#2,437breakfast#2,426

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

relevant12 variantslaughing12 variantsimproved12 variantsdirected12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list