ventilate

/ˈvɛntɪleɪt/

//ˈvɛntɪleɪt// verb

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

"ventilate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ventilate” is uncommon English (frequency #67,939 among 969 “V” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,939
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To replace stale or noxious air with fresh.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ventilate · ventilate · English

ventilate · rank #67,939 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #67,939
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH Verner

Nearest frequency peer: Verner (+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 “ventilate”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ventilate
PropertyValue
Headwordventilate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈvɛntɪleɪt/
Letters9
Frequency rank#67,939
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ventilate” in English

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).ventilatefalls 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: “Verner” (#67,940), “vasculitis” (#67,937), “vasa” (#67,936). Among 969 “V” headwords, “ventilate” is #67,939. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ventilate is uncommon English at frequency #67,939 among 969 “V” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈvɛntɪleɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 8 senses are on record.

ventilate has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English, borrowed from Latin ventilātus, past participle of ventilō. The correct English form is ventilate, spelled V-E-N-T-I-L-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To replace stale or noxious air with fresh.
  2. 2
    To circulate air through a building, etc.
  3. 3
    To provide with a vent.
  4. 4
    To expose something to the circulation of fresh air.
  5. 5
    To expose something to public examination or discussion.
  6. 6
    To provide manual or mechanical breathing to (a patient).
  7. 7
    To breathe.
  8. 8
    To shoot with a firearm; to pierce with bullets.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. "Well, I did my best. I had no hopes, and it has worked out as I thought. It is a pure waste of time." "Not at all," Malone answered. "It has ventilated an evil. There were reporters in court. Surely some of them have some sense. They will note the injustice."
  2. The WR has dropped its plan to close Yeovil Junction station. As we predicted on page 376 of the June issue, there has been strong opposition to the suggestion and on July 10 local opinion ventilated its case at a Yeovil Town Hall meeting attended by Mr. G. F. Fiennes, General Manager of the WR.

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Latin ventilātus, past participle of ventilō.

This word in other languages

ventilar(Español)ventiler(Français)lüften(Deutsch)ventilar(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 "ventilate"?
"ventilate" is spelled V-E-N-T-I-L-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈvɛntɪleɪt/.
What does "ventilate" mean?
As a verb, "ventilate" means: To replace stale or noxious air with fresh.
How do you pronounce "ventilate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ventilate" is /ˈvɛntɪleɪt/. 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 "ventilate"?
From Middle English, borrowed from Latin ventilātus, past participle of ventilō. 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 "ventilate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

unequally#67,925unaudited#67,921workbooks#67,963ubiquitin#67,914

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list