take one's leave

verb

"take-one-s-leave" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“take one's leave” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To depart.

Key facts for take one's leave
PropertyValue
Headwordtake one's leave
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “take one's leave” sits in English frequency

take one's leave falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for take one's leave is 16 letters long, classified as a verb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for take one's leave, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is take one's leave, spelled T-A-K-E- -O-N-E-'-S- -L-E-A-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To depart.
  2. 2
    say goodbye

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "take one's leave"?
"take one's leave" is spelled T-A-K-E- -O-N-E-'-S- -L-E-A-V-E.
What does "take one's leave" mean?
As a verb, "take one's leave" means: To depart.
What language does "take one's leave" come from?
"take one's leave" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “take one's leave”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is T-A-K-E- -O-N-E-'-S- -L-E-A-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list