backstay
noun
backstay is spelled B-A-C-K-S-T-A-Y: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 45 million words in written English, the 206,808th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, backstay means “A part of the rigging of a sailing ship extending from the top of the mast (masthead) to the back of the ship; they support the strain on all upper…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of backstay is backstays.
How many letters and syllables are in backstay?
| Letters | 8: B-A-C-K-S-T-A-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 45 million words; the 206,808th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is backstay?
Backstay appears about once in every 45 million words in written English, the 206,808th 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 backstay?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-backstay.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of backstay
- backstays plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does backstay mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A part of the rigging of a sailing ship extending from the top of the mast (masthead) to the back of the ship; they support the strain on all upper masts and provide additional support to the shrouds when the wind is abaft the beam.
- 2
A strengthening or supporting piece that is built into the back of something.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Backstay in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense part of the rigging:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Backstag |
| Portuguese | brandal |
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 backstay come from?
From back + stay.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).