anvil
/ˈæn.vəl/noun, verb
anvil is spelled A-N-V-I-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,462nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, anvil means “A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of anvil is anvils.
How many letters and syllables are in anvil?
| Letters | 5: A-N-V-I-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,462nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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 anvil?
Anvil appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,462nd 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 anvil?
- US /ˈæn.vəl/
- US /ˈæn.vɪl/
- UK /ˈæn.vɪl/
Anvil 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-anvil.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with anvil?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as anvil (/ænvəl/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: vinal, nival.
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 anvil
- anvils plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- anviling US, participle, present
- anvilling UK, participle, present
- anviled US, participle, past
- anvilled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does anvil mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped.
- 2
The incus bone in the middle ear.
- 3
A stone or other hard surface used by a bird for breaking the shells of snails.
- 4
The non-moving surface of a micrometer against which the item to be measured is placed.
- 5
A horizontal-topped mass of cloud, shaped like a blacksmith's anvil, that forms before a thunderstorm.
verb
- 1
To fashion on, or as if on, an anvil.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Anvil in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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.