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PlainSpell

band

/bænd/noun, verb

band is spelled B-A-N-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “band vs banned” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, band means “A strip of material wrapped around things to hold them together” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of band is bands or *bands.

How many letters and syllables are in band?

Letters4: B-A-N-D
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing83 times per million words; the 1,272nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

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 band?

Band appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd 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 band?

  • US /bænd/
  • [beənd] ~ [bɛənd]
  • British /band/

Band 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-ca-band.opus, En-us-band.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with band

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

band vs banned40 G

Sounds like: banned (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: band government, bandy.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with band?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as band from its last stressed vowel (/ænd/):

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 band

  • bands plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • banding participle, present
  • banded participle, past
  • *bands plural

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

What does band mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A strip of material wrapped around things to hold them together.

  2. 2

    A narrow strip of cloth or other material on clothing, to bind, strengthen, or ornament it.

  3. 3

    A strip along the spine of a book where the pages are attached.

  4. 4

    A belt or strap that is part of a machine.

  5. 5

    A long strip of material, color, etc, that is different from the surrounding area.

    sandstone with bands of shale

  6. 6

    A continuous tablet, stripe, or series of ornaments, as of carved foliage, of colour, or of brickwork.

  7. 7

    In Gothic architecture, the moulding, or suite of mouldings, which encircles the pillars and small shafts.

  8. 8

    That which serves as the means of union or connection between persons; a tie.

  9. 9

    A group of musicians who perform together as an ensemble; sometimes, such a group working for a professional recording artist.

    musical band

  10. 10

    A type of orchestra originally playing janissary music; an instance of this type.

  11. 11

    Ellipsis of marching band.

  12. 12

    A group of people loosely united for a common purpose, such as a band of thieves.

  13. 13

    A small group of people living in a simple society, contrasted with tribes, chiefdoms, and nations.

  14. 14

    CanadaEllipsis of band government.

verb

  1. 1

    To fasten with a band.

  2. 2

    To fasten an identifying band around the leg of (a bird).

  3. 3

    To group together for a common purpose; to confederate.

  4. 4

    To group (students) together by perceived ability; to stream.

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

Band in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanBand (strip of material wrapped around things to hold…), Frequenzspektrum (part of radio spectrum), binden (fasten with a band), beringen (ornithology: fasten an identifying band around…), Kapelle, Musikkapelle (group of musicians)
Portuguesebanda, cinta, faixa (strip of material wrapped around things to hold…), grupo (group of musicians), bando (group of people loosely united for a common…)
Spanishcinta, franja, banda (strip of material wrapped around things to hold…), grupo (group of musicians)
Frenchbaguer (ornithology: fasten an identifying band around…), groupe (group of musicians), bande (anthropology: small group of people living in a…)

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 band come from?

Inherited from Middle English band (also bond), from Old English beand, bænd, bend (“bond, chain, fetter, band, ribbon, ornament, chaplet, crown”), from Proto-Germanic *bandą, *bandiz (“band, fetter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie, bind”). Middle English band reinforced by Old French bande.

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

What to look up after band