beam
/ˈbiːm/noun, verb
beam is spelled B-E-A-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, beam means “Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of beam is beams.
How many letters and syllables are in beam?
| Letters | 4: B-E-A-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is beam?
Beam appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th 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 beam?
- /ˈbiːm/
- [ˈbɪi̯m]
Beam has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-beam.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with beam?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as beam.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: bema.
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 beam
- beams plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- beaming participle, present
- beamed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does beam mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
- 2
One of the principal horizontal structural members, usually of steel, timber, or concrete, of a building.
- 3
One of the transverse members of a ship's frame on which the decks are laid, and acting as part of the support for keeping the sides of the vessel in shape – supported at the sides by knees in wooden ships and by stringers in steel ones; cf. abeam, beam-ends.
Capt. King, from Demarara, was invaded by the gale on the evening of the 6th, in lat. 21° 51', and his vessel was thrown on her beam ends. He was forced to cut away her main-mast. Lost a man, who was washed overboard. . . . Capt. Mood, on a
- 4
The maximum width of a vessel (note that a vessel with a beam of 15 foot can also be said to be 15 foot abeam).
This ship has more beam than that one.
- 5
The direction across a vessel, perpendicular to fore-and-aft.
As the vessel passes a landmark, the landmark is said to be abeam. Once the vessel has passed the landmark, it falls abaft the beam, then it gradually falls astern.
- 6
The straight part or shank of an anchor.
- 7
The crossbar of a mechanical balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended.
- 8
In steam engines, a heavy iron lever having an oscillating motion on a central axis, one end of which is connected with the piston rod from which it receives motion, and the other with the crank of the wheel shaft.
verb
- 1
To emit beams of light; to shine; to radiate.
to beam forth light
- 2
To smile broadly or especially cheerfully.
to beam with pride
- 3
To furnish or supply with beams.
- 4
To give the appearance of beams to.
- 5
To transmit matter or information via a high-tech wireless mechanism.
Beam me up, Scotty; there's no intelligent life down here.
- 6
To transmit, especially by direct wireless means such as infrared.
- 7
To stretch something (for example, an animal hide) on a beam.
- 8
To put (something) on a beam.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Beam in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | madrier , poutre , merrain, perche , limon, timon |
| German | Balken , Deichsel , Breite , Pflugbaum, Grindel , strahlen |
| Portuguese | trave, viga , timão, temão, apo |
| Spanish | viga , jácena, travesaño , manga , timón |
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 beam come from?
From Middle English bem, beem, from Old English bēam (“tree, cross, gallows, column, pillar, wood, beam, splint, post, stock, rafter, piece of wood”), from Proto-West Germanic *baum, from Proto-Germanic *baumaz (“tree, beam, balk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to grow, swell”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).