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PlainSpell

convey

/kənˈveɪ/verb

convey is a verb meaning “To move (something) from one place to another” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled C-O-N-V-E-Y and has 2 syllables, and it appears 6.8 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does convey mean?

verb

  1. 1

    To move (something) from one place to another.

    Air conveys sound. Water is conveyed through the pipe.

  2. 2

    datedTo take or carry (someone) from one place to another.

  3. 3

    To communicate; to make known; to portray.

    to convey an impression; to convey information

  4. 4

    To transfer legal rights (to).

    He conveyed ownership of the company to his daughter.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo manage with privacy; to carry out.

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo carry or take away secretly; to steal; to thieve.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce convey?

  • /kənˈveɪ/

Convey has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-convey.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of convey

  • conveys present, singular, he/she/it
  • conveying participle, present
  • conveyed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is convey?

Convey appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Convey in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanbefördern, transportieren, verfrachten (to move (something) from one place to another), übermitteln, ausrichten (to communicate)
Portuguesetransportar, enviar (to move (something) from one place to another), transmitir, comunicar, expressar (to communicate)
Frenchvéhiculer, communiquer (to communicate), transporter (to carry)
Spanishenunciar, efundir, expremir (to communicate), trasladar, transladar (to carry)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does convey come from?

From Middle English conveien, from Old French conveier (French convoyer), from Vulgar Latin *convio, from Classical Latin via (“way”). Compare convoy.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).