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PlainSpell

avail

/əˈveɪl/verb, noun, adjective

avail is spelled A-V-A-I-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, avail means “To turn to the advantage of” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in avail?

Letters5: A-V-A-I-L
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.9 times per million words; the 13,127th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

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).

How common is avail?

Avail appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th 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 avail?

  • /əˈveɪl/

Avail 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-avail.ogg, En-au-avail.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of avail

  • avails present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • availing participle, present
  • availed participle, past
  • more avail comparative
  • most avail superlative

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

What does avail mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To turn to the advantage of.

    I availed myself of the opportunity.

  2. 2

    To be of service to.

    Artifices will not avail the sinner in the day of judgment.

  3. 3

    To promote; to assist.

  4. 4

    To be of use or advantage; to answer or serve the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object.

    The plea in court must avail.

  5. 5

    IndiaTo provide; to make available.

  6. 6

    IndiaTo use or take advantage of (an opportunity or resource).

    You can avail discounts on food.

noun

  1. 1

    Effect in achieving a goal or aim; purpose, use (now usually in negative constructions).

    I tried fixing it to no avail.

  2. 2

    USProceeds; profits from business transactions.

  3. 3

    An advertising slot or package.

  4. 4

    USA press avail.

    While holding an avail yesterday, the candidate lashed out at critics.

  5. 5

    UKNon-binding notice of availability for work.

  6. 6

    A readily available stock of oil.

  7. 7

    obsoleteBenefit; value, profit; advantage toward success.

  8. 8

    obsoleteEffort; striving.

adjective

  1. 1

    colloquialClipping of available.

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

Avail in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchprofiter, saisir (to turn to the advantage of), servir (to be of service to)
Germanausnutzen (to turn to the advantage of), helfen, nützen (to be of service to), Erfolg (benefit; value, profit; advantage toward success)
Portuguesevaler-se, aproveitar (to turn to the advantage of), adiantar, servir, valer (to be of service to), valia (benefit; value, profit; advantage toward success)
Spanishaprovechar (to turn to the advantage of), servir (to be of service to)

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 avail come from?

From Middle English availen (“to be of use”), from Old French a (“to”) + vail from valoir (“to be worth”), from Latin valere (“to be worthy, strong”).

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

What to look up after avail