Accommodate

How to spell accommodate

11 letters · 4 syllables

The most common mistake is accomodate. The letters people get wrong are highlighted.

accomodate accommodate

What people typed instead

• accomodate4 people

How to pronounce accommodate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does accommodate mean?

1. verbTo provide enough room or space for someone or something, or to fit in with someone's wishes or needs.

Accommodate in a sentence

• The hotel can accommodate up to 200 guests.

• We need a venue that can accommodate both events.

• The restaurant tried to accommodate our dietary needs.

Where does accommodate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin accommodare, which meant 'to make fit' or 'to adapt one thing to another'. It was built from the prefix ad- ('to', here assimilated to ac-), the prefix com- ('with' or 'together'), and the root modus, meaning a 'measure', 'limit', or 'proper fit', the same root that gives us 'mode', 'model', and 'moderate'. The literal idea was to bring things into proper measure with one another, so that they suited each other comfortably. English adopted it in the middle of the 1500s, first in the sense of making something suitable and soon after in the sense of providing lodging or room for someone. The notorious spelling trap, the double c and the double m, is actually faithful to the Latin: the c doubles because ad- assimilated to ac- in front of com-, and the m doubles because com- itself ends in m before the root. Remembering that it packs in two full prefixes, ac and com, is the surest way to keep both pairs of letters.

How the word is built

• ac- (to)
• com- (together)
• mod (measure)
• -ate (verb suffix)