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PlainSpell

aboard

/əˈbɔɹd/adverb, preposition

aboard is spelled A-B-O-A-R-D: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, aboard means “On board; into or within a ship or boat; hence, into or within a railway car” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in aboard?

Letters6: A-B-O-A-R-D
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

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 aboard?

Aboard appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th 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 aboard?

  • UK /əˈbɔːd/
  • US /əˈbɔɹd/

Aboard 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-aboard.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with aboard?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as aboard from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹd/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: abroad.

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).

What does aboard mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adverb

  1. 1

    On board; into or within a ship or boat; hence, into or within a railway car.

    We all climbed aboard.

  2. 2

    On or onto a horse, a camel, etc.

    to sling a saddle aboard

  3. 3

    On base.

    He doubled with two men aboard, scoring them both.

  4. 4

    Into a team, group, or company.

    The office manager welcomed him aboard.

  5. 5

    Alongside.

    The ships came close aboard to pass messages.

preposition

  1. 1

    On board of; onto or into a ship, boat, train, plane.

    We all went aboard the ship.

  2. 2

    Onto a horse.

  3. 3

    obsoleteAcross; athwart; alongside.

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

Aboard in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchà bord (on board), à bord de (on board of)
Germanan Bord (on board)
Portuguesea bordo (on board), a bordo de (on board of)
Spanisha bordo (on board), a bordo de (on board of)

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 aboard come from?

From Middle English abord, from a- (“on”) + bord (“board, side of a ship”); equivalent to a- + board.

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

What to look up after aboard