abide
/əˈbaɪd/verb
abide is spelled A-B-I-D-E: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, abide means “To endure without yielding; to withstand” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in abide?
| Letters | 5: A-B-I-D-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.9 times per million words; the 13,127th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is abide?
Abide appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th 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).
How do you pronounce abide?
- UK /əˈbaɪd/
- US /əˈbaɪd/
Abide 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-abide.ogg, En-ca-abide.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-abide.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with abide?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as abide from its last stressed vowel (/aɪd/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of abide
- abides present, singular, he/she/it
- abiding participle, present
- abode past, participle
- abided past, participle
- abid past, participle
- abidden participle, past, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does abide mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To endure without yielding; to withstand.
The old oak tree abides the wind endlessly.
- 2
To bear patiently.
"I never could abide shoemakers," said an old servant,–and it ended in her marrying one.
- 3
To pay for; to take the consequences of.
- 4
Used in a phrasal verb: abide by (“to accept and act in accordance with”).
The new teacher was strict and the students did not want to abide by his rules.
- 5
obsoleteTo wait in expectation.
- 6
obsoleteTo pause; to delay.
- 7
ScotlandarchaicTo stay; to continue in a place; to remain stable or fixed in some state or condition; to be left.
- 8
archaicTo have one's abode.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Abide in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | endurer, résister (sans céder), persévérer , tolérer, supporter , souffrir |
| German | aushalten , ausstehen, ertragen , zahlen (with für) , verbleiben , weilen |
| Portuguese | aguentar, persistir, resistir (sem ceder) , suportar, tolerar |
| Spanish | quedar, permanecer, resistir (sin ceder), aguantar, durar , tolerar |
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 abide come from?
From Middle English abyden, from Old English ābīdan (“to abide, wait, remain, delay, remain behind; survive; wait for, await; expect”), from Proto-West Germanic *uʀbīdan, from Proto-Germanic *uzbīdaną (“to expect, tolerate”), equivalent to a- + bide.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).