aught
/ɔːt/noun
aught is spelled A-U-G-H-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “aught vs ought” about 590 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, aught means “Zero” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of aught is aughts.
How many letters and syllables are in aught?
| Letters | 5: A-U-G-H-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 57,423rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| 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); 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 common is aught?
Aught appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd 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 aught?
- UK /ɔːt/
- British /oːt/
- /ɔt/
Aught has one syllable (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-aught.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with aught
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: ought (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: ought.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with aught?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as aught from its last stressed vowel (/ɔt/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ghaut.
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 aught
- owt
- aughts plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does aught mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
proscribedZero.
- 2
The digit zero.
- 3
Estimation.
in my aught
- 4
Of importance or consequence (in the phrase "of aught").
an event of aught
- 5
obsoleterareEsteem, respect.
a man of aught
- 6
archaicWhit, the smallest part, iota.
pronoun
- 1
archaicAnything whatsoever, any part.
for aught I know/care
adverb
- 1
archaicAt all, in any degree, in any respect.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does aught come from?
Rebracketing of a naught.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).