around
a·round/əˈɹaʊnd/preposition, adjective, adverb
around is spelled A-R-O-U-N-D, 2 syllables: a·round. The wrong spelling people search most is arround: about 30 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 40 of all searches for the word. Around is a preposition meaning “Forming a circle or closed curve containing (something)”.
How many letters and syllables are in around?
| Letters | 6: A-R-O-U-N-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: a·round |
| In writing | 589 times per million words; the 168th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 5; the most searched, arround, about 30 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people search | |
| 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 around?
Around is spelled A-R-O-U-N-D. 5 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 13 of the searches for around 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 around?
Around appears 589 times per million words in written English, the 168th 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 around?
- US /əˈɹaʊnd/
- /əˈɹuːnd/
- Australia /əˈɹæɔnd/
Around has 2 syllables, split a·round in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-around.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with around
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: round.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with around?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as around from its last stressed vowel (/aʊnd/):
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 around
- round
- ron
- 'round
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does around mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
preposition
- 1
Forming a circle or closed curve containing (something).
She wore a gold chain around her neck.
- 2
Centred upon; surrounding; regarding.
We could use some clarification around the new rules.
- 3
Following the perimeter of a specified area and returning to the starting point.
We walked around the football field.
- 4
Following a path which curves near an object, with the object on the inside of the curve.
The road took a brief detour around the large rock formation, then went straight on.
- 5
Near; in the vicinity of; approximately.
I left my keys somewhere around here.
- 6
At or to various places within or throughout.
The pages from the notebook were scattered around the room.
- 7
So as to avoid something.
Our product designs around the existing patents to avoid infringing them.
adjective
- 1
informalPresent in the vicinity.
Is Clare around today?
- 2
informalAlive; existing.
The record store on Main Street? Yes, it's still around.
adverb
- 1
So as to form a circle or trace a circular path, or approximation thereof.
High above, vultures circled around.
- 2
So as to surround or be near.
Everybody please gather around.
- 3
Nearly; approximately; about.
Around a thousand people attended.
- 4
From place to place.
There are rumors going around that the company is bankrupt.
- 5
From one state or condition to an opposite or very different one; with a metaphorical change in direction; bringing about awareness or agreement.
The team wasn't doing well, but the new coach really turned things around.
- 6
So as to partially or completely rotate; so as to face in the opposite direction.
Turn around at the end of this street.
- 7
Used with verbs to indicate repeated or continuous action, or in numerous locations or with numerous people.
I asked around, and no-one really liked it.
- 8
Used with certain verbs to suggest unproductive activity.
sit around, mess around, loaf around
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Around in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | autour de , vers , dans |
| German | um , etwa, ungefähr , es gibt X noch , herum , rund |
| Portuguese | em torno de, em volta de, ao redor de |
| Spanish | alrededor de, en contorno a/de , a eso de , rondar , por acá, por ahí |
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 around come from?
From Middle English around, arounde, from a- (from Old English a- (“on, at”)) + Middle English round (“circle, round”) borrowed from French, equivalent to a- + round. Cognate with Scots aroond, aroon (“around”). Displaced earlier Middle English umbe, embe (“around”) (from Old English ymbe (“around”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).