spate

/speɪt/

//speɪt// noun

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

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

The verdict

“spate” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #37,701. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#37,701
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A (sudden) flood or inundation of water; specifically, a flood in or overflow of a river or other watercourse due to heavy rain or melting snow; (uncountable, archaic) flooding, inundation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spate · spate · English

spate · rank #37,701 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #37,701
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sor

Nearest frequency peer: sor (-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 “spate”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spate” 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).

spate vs spot
60% similar
spate vs stat
60% similar
spate vs spit
60% similar

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

Key facts for spate
PropertyValue
Headwordspate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/speɪt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#37,701
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spate”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).spatelands 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 “sor” (#37,700), “spellings” (#37,702), “Sonora” (#37,699). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spate” is #37,701. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around spate (IPA /speɪt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #37,701 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for spate, with forms such as "sapte", "spaet", and "spatte". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "spot", "stat", "spit", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English spate, spait (“a flood”), influenced by Scots spate (“torrent of water, flood; heavy downpour of rain; (figurative) bout of drinking; large crowd of people; flood of events, words, etc.”). The further etymology of the… The correct English form is spate, spelled S-P-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A (sudden) flood or inundation of water; specifically, a flood in or overflow of a river or other watercourse due to heavy rain or melting snow; (uncountable, archaic) flooding, inundation.
  2. 2
    A sudden heavy downpour of rain.
  3. 3
    A sudden increase or rush of something; a flood, an outburst, an outpouring.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Thys Lepidium that Pliny & Paul [of Aegina] deſcribe⸝ groweth plentuouſly about the water ſyde that rynneth thorow Morpeth in Northumberland⸝ in ſuche places as great heapes of ſtones are caſten together wyth the myght of a great ſpat or flood.
  2. Arous'd by bluſtering vvinds an' ſpotting thovves, / In mony a torrent dovvn the ſnavv-broo rovves; / VVhile craſhing ice, borne on the roaring ſpeat, / Svveeps dams, an' mills, an' brigs, a' to the gate; […]

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English spate, spait (“a flood”), influenced by Scots spate (“torrent of water, flood; heavy downpour of rain; (figurative) bout of drinking; large crowd of people; flood of events, words, etc.”). The further etymology of the Middle English and Scots words is uncertain; they are possibly related to English spatter and Dutch spatten (“to spatter, splash”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sp(y)ēw-, *spyū- (whence English spit (“to evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.”)), which is imitative of spitting. The verb is derived from the noun, probably influenced by Scots spate (“to flood, swell; to rain heavily; (figurative) to scold fiercely”).

This word in other languages

aluvión(Español)crue(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sapte
  • spaet
  • spatte
  • sppate
  • sptae
  • sspate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spate - 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.

sapte2spaet2spatte1sppate1sptae2sspate1
Edit distance from "spate"

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 "spate"?
"spate" is spelled S-P-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /speɪt/.
What does "spate" mean?
As a noun, "spate" means: A (sudden) flood or inundation of water; specifically, a flood in or overflow of a river or other watercourse due to heavy rain or melting snow; (uncountable, archaic) flooding, inundation.
What words are commonly confused with "spate"?
"spate" is commonly confused with "spot", "stat", "spit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spate" is /speɪt/. 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 "spate"?
The noun is derived from Middle English spate, spait (“a flood”), influenced by Scots spate (“torrent of water, flood; heavy downpour of rain; (figurative) bout of drinking; large crowd of people; flood of events, words, etc.”). The further etymol... 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 "spate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Stasi#37,706showy#37,687tabby#37,725scoot#37,675

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

scab6 variantsSaito6 variantsZips6 variantsaural6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list