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starter

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "starter", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "starter" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "starter" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

starter is aEnglishnoun. It means: Someone who starts, or who starts something. Pronounced /ˈstɑː.tə(ɹ)/. It ranks #6,963 in English word frequency. Often confused with state and states.

Key facts for starter
PropertyValue
Headwordstarter
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈstɑː.tə(ɹ)/
Letters7
Frequency rank#6,963
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of starter in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for starter is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈstɑː.tə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,963 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for starter, with forms such as "satrter", "sstarter", and "staretr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "state", "states", "stated", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From start + -er. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is starter, spelled S-T-A-R-T-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Someone who starts, or who starts something.
  2. 2
    Someone who starts, or who starts something.
  3. 3
    Someone who starts, or who starts something.
  4. 4
    Someone who starts, or who starts something.
  5. 5
    Something that starts something.
  6. 6
    Something that starts something.
  7. 7
    Something that starts something.
  8. 8
    Something with which to begin; a first property, etc.
  9. 9
    The first course of a meal, consisting of a small, usually savoury, dish.
  10. 10
    A player in the lineup of players that a team fields at the beginning of a game.
  11. 11
    A dog that rouses game.
  12. 12
    A short length of rope formerly used for casual chastisement in the Navy.
  13. 13
    Ellipsis of starter signal.

Etymology

From start + -er.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: satrter,sstarter,staretr,starrter,starterr,startre,startter,statrer,strater,sttarter,tsarter

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for starter

Misspelling Variants of "starter"

satrter7sstarter8staretr7starrter8starterr8startre7startter8statrer7
Misspelling Variants of "starter"

Frequency rank: #6,963 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "starter"?
"starter" is spelled S-T-A-R-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈstɑː.tə(ɹ)/.
What does "starter" mean?
As a noun, "starter" means: Someone who starts, or who starts something.
What words are commonly confused with "starter"?
"starter" is commonly confused with "state", "states", "stated". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "starter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "starter" is /ˈstɑː.tə(ɹ)/. 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 "starter"?
From start + -er. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.