Start up or startup?
start up is a noun meaning “Alternative spelling of startup”; startup is a noun meaning “The act or process of starting a process or machine”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. start up is written as two words and startup as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between start up and startup?
| start up | startup | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun |
| Meaning | To rise suddenly To commence the operation of; to activate; to launch | The act or process of starting a process or machine A new company or organization or business venture designed for rapid growth |
| Example | He started up when he heard the scream | Add an app to run automatically at startup in Windows 10, Microsoft Support 3. With the file location open, press the Windows logo key + R… |
| Forms | start-ups | startups |
| Pronunciation | /stɑːˈtʌp/ /stɑɹˈtʌp/ | /ˈstɑɹtˌʌp/ [ˈstɑɹɾˌʌp] /ˈstɑːtəp/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 6.8 times per million words |
Sources: start up and startup 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 start up and startup
start up
- 1
Alternative spelling of startup
- 2
To rise suddenly
He started up when he heard the scream
- 3
To commence the operation of; to activate; to launch
The four of them started up a law practice
- 4
To begin to operate
The engine started up right away
- 5
colloquialTo begin
The band started up playing
- 6
To begin to make a sound
First a solitary blackbird started up, but soon the whole forest was alive with birdsong
startup
- 1
The act or process of starting a process or machine
- 2
A new company or organization or business venture designed for rapid growth
- 3
A folder (especially in Windows), containing shortcuts of applications or programs that start up automatically after a user signs in
Add an app to run automatically at startup in Windows 10, Microsoft Support 3. With the file location open, press the Windows logo key + R, type shell:startup, then select OK.…
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, start up or startup?
start up is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; startup 6.8 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 start up vs startup?
“start up vs startup” is searched about 70 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“startup vs start up”, “start up or startup”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.