bellow
/ˈbɛloʊ/noun, verb
bellow is spelled B-E-L-L-O-W: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “bellow vs below” about 2,400 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, bellow means “The deep roar of a large animal, or any similar loud noise” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bellow is bellows.
How many letters and syllables are in bellow?
| Letters | 6: B-E-L-L-O-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| 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 bellow?
Bellow appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th 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 bellow?
- US /ˈbɛloʊ/
- UK /ˈbɛləʊ/
Bellow 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-bellow.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bellow
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bellow?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bellow from its last stressed vowel (/ɛloʊ/):
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 bellow
- bellows plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- bellowing participle, present
- bellowed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bellow mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The deep roar of a large animal, or any similar loud noise.
verb
- 1
To make a loud, deep, hollow noise like the roar of an angry bull.
- 2
To shout in a deep voice.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bellow in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Röhren, Brüllen , brüllen, röhren , grölen |
| Spanish | bramido, berrido , bramar, berrear |
| French | mugir , beugler |
| Portuguese | bramir, rugir, urrar |
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 bellow come from?
From Middle English belwen, from Old English belgan, bylgan (“to become angry, to swell with rage”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to sound, roar”), whence also belg (“leather bag”), bellan (“to roar”), blāwan (“to blow”). Cognate with German bellen (“to bark”), Russian бле́ять (bléjatʹ, “baa, bleat”). Compare billow (“wave”), of the same root, also bulge, with related etymology to swelling. Potentially related to bawl, Swedish böl (“bawl”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).