b
/biː/letter, number, adjective, symbol, verb
b is spelled B: one letter and one syllable. It appears 224 times per million words in written English, the 447th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a letter, b means “The second letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in b?
| Letters | 1: B |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 224 times per million words; the 447th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like |
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 b?
B appears 224 times per million words in written English, the 447th 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 b?
- /b/
- /biː/
B 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-uk-b.ogg, En-us-b.ogg, En-au-B.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with b
Sounds like: be, bee (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What does b mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
letter
- 1
The second letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.
number
- 1
The second numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.
symbol
- 1
latitude in the galactic coordinate system
- 2
barn
- 3
bit
- 4
bye
- 5
big
letter
- 1
The second letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.
number
- 1
The second numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.
noun
- 1
The quantity one billion (1,000,000,000), usually used to signify a sum of money.
$2.8 B
- 2
UKThe grade of pencil, “black”, that makes darker marks than grade HB but lighter marks than grade 2B; a pencil with soft lead.
- 3
Abbreviation of bishop.
- 4
The number of balls faced by a batsman.
- 5
Bass.
- 6
AustraliaBastard.
- 7
Bitch.
- 8
Abbreviation of blood or blud: used to address a friend, especially a male.
- 9
A personality type describing people who are relaxed and easygoing and able to engage in leisure activities without worrying about work.
- 10
An academic grade, better than a C and worse than an A.
- 11
Signifies a second-tier or second class of a given commodity, group, or category, as in B-movie, B-list, etc.
The television studio revived some of its B characters for the spinoff.
- 12
The alternate or secondary part, such as the back side of a phonograph record. Contrasted with ‘A’, which is the primary part.
- 13
The seventh note in the C major scale.
symbol
- 1
byte
adjective
- 1
Abbreviation of born.
verb
- 1
Abbreviation of be.
ima prolly b at home tn
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
B 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.