traduce
/tɹəˈdjuːs/
"traduce" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“traduce” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To malign a person or entity by making malicious and false or defamatory statements.
Corpus desk
Index EN-traduce · traduce · English
traduce · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | traduce |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /tɹəˈdjuːs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “traduce” in English
Rare enough to double-check
traduce is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /tɹəˈdjuːs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
traduce doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin trādūcō (“carry over; lead as a spectacle, dishonor”), from trāns + dūcō (“to lead”). Doublet of transduce, from Latin trānsdūcō. The correct English form is traduce, spelled T-R-A-D-U-C-E.
Definition
- 1To malign a person or entity by making malicious and false or defamatory statements.
- 2To pass on (to one's children, future generations etc.); to transmit.
- 3To pass into another form of expression; to rephrase, to translate.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how traduce appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
This heauy headed reueale eaſt and weſt / Makes vs traduſt, and taxed of other nations, / They clip vs drunkards, and with Swiniſh phraſe / Soyle our addition […]
Well I'll not debate how far Scandal may be allowable—but in a man I am sure it is always contemtable.—We have Pride, envy, Rivalship, and a Thousand motives to depreciate each other—but the male-slanderer must have the cowardice of a woman before He can traduce one.
Etymology
From Latin trādūcō (“carry over; lead as a spectacle, dishonor”), from trāns + dūcō (“to lead”). Doublet of transduce, from Latin trānsdūcō.
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.