Key word or keyword?
key word is a noun meaning “Alternative form of keyword”; keyword is a noun meaning “Any word used as the key to a code”. key word is written as two words and keyword as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between key word and keyword?
| key word | keyword | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, verb |
| Meaning | Alternative form of keyword | Any word used as the key to a code Any word used in a reference work to link to other words or other information To tag with keywords, as for example to facilitate searching |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | key-words | keywords |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈkiː.wɜːd/ /ˈki.wɝd/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 1.9 times per million words |
Sources: key word and keyword in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of key word and keyword
key word
- 1
Alternative form of keyword
- 2
datedDated form of keyword
keyword
- 1
Any word used as the key to a code
- 2
To tag with keywords, as for example to facilitate searching
- 3
Any word used in a reference work to link to other words or other information
- 4
Any important word in a text or document, which may be linked to other words or other information, or listed in the metadata for searches to find
- 5
A reserved word used to identify a specific command, function, etc
- 6
Any word that occurs in a text more often than normal
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, key word or keyword?
key word is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; keyword 1.9 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search key word vs keyword?
“key word vs keyword” is searched about 30 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“keyword vs key word”, “key word or keyword”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.