deletretar

Deletetar is a nonstandard Spanish verb that appears in some regional varieties and informal speech to mean the act of spelling out a word by pronouncing its letters. In standard usage, the verb most commonly used for this action is deletrear.

Status and regional variation. Deletetar is not widely recognized in major Spanish dictionaries and is generally regarded as nonstandard or regional. Some speakers use it as a mistaken variant of deletrear, or as a hypercorrection influenced by other verbs that form with -etar in certain dialects. The preferred form in formal writing and education remains deletrear.

Usage and examples. In everyday conversation, a speaker might encounter deletetar in questions like “¿Cómo deletetar/ deletetarí la palabra ‘avión’?” though most would request “¿Cómo deletrear la palabra ‘avión’?” to be precise. When present in text, deletetar tends to appear in informal contexts, online discussions, or language-learning materials as a spaced or transitional form. Users who encounter deletetar are typically advised to use deletrear in formal contexts.

Etymology and relation to deletrear. The etymology of deletetar is uncertain and largely considered informal or erroneous by linguists. It appears to be a regional or mistaken variant of deletrear, which is derived from the sense of “letting out letters” of a word. Linguistic guidance generally treats deletetar as nonstandard and recommends deletrear for clarity and precision.

See also. deletrear, deletrar, spelling, orthography, language usage.