sauté

/ˈsəʊteɪ/

//ˈsəʊteɪ// verb

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

"saute" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sauté” is uncommon English (frequency #51,976 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,976
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To cook (food) using a small amount of fat in an open pan over a relatively high heat, allowing the food to brown and form a crust stopping it from sticking to the pan as it cooks.

Corpus desk

Index EN-saute · sauté · English

sauté · rank #51,976 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,976
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sassoon

Nearest frequency peer: Sassoon (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “sauté”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “sauté” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sauté
PropertyValue
Headwordsauté
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈsəʊteɪ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#51,976
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sauté” in English

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).sautéfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Sassoon” (#51,975), “Saracen” (#51,974), “Samuelson” (#51,973). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sauté” is #51,976. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sauté is uncommon English at frequency #51,976 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈsəʊteɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To cook (food) using a small amount of fat in an open pan over a relatively high heat, allowing the food to brown and form a crust stopping it from sticking to the pan as it cooks.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for sauté, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French sauté, past participle of sauter (“to sauté”, literally “to jump”); in cooking, diced onions jump in the pan from the hot oil. The correct English form is sauté, spelled S-A-U-T-É.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cook (food) using a small amount of fat in an open pan over a relatively high heat, allowing the food to brown and form a crust stopping it from sticking to the pan as it cooks.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Parboil three-fourths cup carrot, cut in strips, fifteen minutes; drain, and sauté in one tablespoon bacon fat to which has been added one tablespoon finely chopped onion.[…]Cook until potatoes are soft, then add twelve small onions cooked until soft, then drained and sautéd in two tablespoons butter to which is added one tablespoon sugar. Onions need not…
  2. Frying and sautéing are methods that heat foods for the most part by conduction from a hot, oiled pan, with temperatures between 350 and 450°F/175–225°C that encourage Maillard browning and flavor development.

Etymology

Borrowed from French sauté, past participle of sauter (“to sauté”, literally “to jump”); in cooking, diced onions jump in the pan from the hot oil.

This word in other languages

rehogar(Español)sauter(Français)sautieren(Deutsch)saltear(Português)

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 "sauté"?
"sauté" is spelled S-A-U-T-É. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsəʊteɪ/.
What does "sauté" mean?
As a verb, "sauté" means: To cook (food) using a small amount of fat in an open pan over a relatively high heat, allowing the food to brown and form a crust stopping it from sticking to the pan as it cooks.
How do you pronounce "sauté"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sauté" is /ˈsəʊteɪ/. 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 "sauté"?
Borrowed from French sauté, past participle of sauter (“to sauté”, literally “to jump”); in cooking, diced onions jump in the pan from the hot oil. 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 "sauté", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Rusev#51,966Sivan#51,997skimp#51,998Qasim#51,939

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list