approach
ap·proach/əˈpɹoʊt͡ʃ/verb, noun
approach is spelled A-P-P-R-O-A-C-H, 2 syllables: ap·proach. The wrong spelling people search most is aproach: about 90 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 19 of all searches for the word. Approach is a verb meaning “To come or go near, in place or time; to move toward; to advance nearer; to draw nigh”.
How many letters and syllables are in approach?
| Letters | 8: A-P-P-R-O-A-C-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ap·proach |
| In writing | 85 times per million words; the 1,251st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, aproach, about 90 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell approach?
Approach is spelled A-P-P-R-O-A-C-H. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 11 of the searches for approach in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is approach?
Approach appears 85 times per million words in written English, the 1,251st 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 approach?
- UK /əˈpɹəʊt͡ʃ/
- US /əˈpɹoʊt͡ʃ/
Approach has 2 syllables, split ap·proach in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-approach.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with approach?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as approach from its last stressed vowel (/oʊtʃ/):
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 approach
- approaches present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- approaching participle, present
- approached participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does approach mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To come or go near, in place or time; to move toward; to advance nearer; to draw nigh.
She approached the door cautiously.
- 2
To play an approach shot.
- 3
Used intransitively, followed by to: to draw near (to someone or something); to make advances; to approximate or become almost equal.
He approaches to the character of the ablest statesman.
- 4
rareOf an immovable object or a number of such objects: to be positioned as to (notionally) appear to be moving towards (a place).
As we drove along the driveway, the trees approaching the house seemed more eerie.
- 5
To move toward (someone or something) in place, time, character, or value; to draw nearer to.
“Would counsel please approach the bench?” asked the judge.
- 6
To bring (something) near something else; to cause (something) to draw near.
- 7
Used when defining limits, preceded by as: To become arbitrarily close to some value, be it a number, vector or infinity and have an effect on another value.
- 8
To attempt to make (a policy) or solve (a problem).
noun
- 1
An act of drawing near in place or time; an advancing or coming near.
- 2
An act of coming near in character or value; an approximation.
- 3
An avenue, passage, or way by which a building or place can be approached; an access.
- 4
A path taken to reach the climbing area, for example, from a car park, road, etc.
- 5
A manner of making (a policy) or solving (a problem, etc.).
- 6
archaicAn opportunity of drawing near; access.
- 7
The way an aircraft comes in to land at an airport.
- 8
A specific procedure used for approaching and landing at an airport.
We flew the RNAV/GPS A approach to runway 16.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate approach?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of approach: App.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Approach in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | s'approcher , tendre vers , s'approcher de , approche |
| German | sich nähern , sich annähern , Annäherung , Ansatz , Anflug |
| Portuguese | aproximar-se , aproximar-se de , aproximação , approach , acesso, entrada |
| Spanish | acercarse, aproximarse, avecinarse, dirigirse, apropincuarse, allegarse |
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 approach come from?
From Middle English aprochen, borrowed from Old French aprochier (modern French approcher), from Late Latin appropiāre, a verb based on Latin prope (“near”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (a variant of *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-kʷe (“suffix forming distributives from interrogatives”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).