below

be·low/bɪˈloʊ/preposition, adverb

below is spelled B-E-L-O-W: 5 letters and 2 syllables (be·low). It appears 112 times per million words in written English, the 951st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “bellow vs below” about 2,400 times a month (Google, United States). As a preposition, below means “Lower in spatial position than” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in below?

Letters	5: B-E-L-O-W
Syllables	2: be·low
In writing	112 times per million words; the 951st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Pairs people search	bellow vs below
Sounds like	billow
Rhymes with	show though oh ago more
Same letters	elbow bowel

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); 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 below?

Below appears 112 times per million words in written English, the 951st most frequent word form in the list.

below0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce below?

UK /bɪˈləʊ/
/bɪˈlaː/
US /bɪˈloʊ/

Below has 2 syllables, split be·low in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-below.wav, En-us-below.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with below

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

bellow vs below2,400 G

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

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

What rhymes with below?

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

Spelled with the same letters in another order: elbow, bowel.

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).

What does below mean?

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

preposition

1
Lower in spatial position than.
The treasure is buried two meters below the surface.
2
Lower than in value, price, rank, concentration, etc.
The temperature is below zero.
3
Downstream of.
The River Thames is tidal below Teddington Lock.
4
South of.
Sudan is below Egypt.
5
Unsuitable to the rank or dignity of; beneath.
Such petty behavior is below me.
6
Downstage of.
Below the sofa is a low, round coffee table.

adverb

1
In or to a lower place.
The town is situated on a hillside, with a river running below.
2
On or to a lower storey.
She lives below, on the ground floor.
3
On or to a lower deck, especially as relative to the main deck.
The captain went below to inspect the engine.
4
Later in the same text.
This point is explained below.
5
Below zero.
It was forty degrees below.

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

Below in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

Language	Words
French	au-dessous de, sous (lower in spatial position than), en bas (in a lower place), en dessous (on a lower storey), ci-dessous (farther down)
German	unter (lower in spatial position than), unten, darunter, unterhalb (in a lower place)
Portuguese	abaixo de (lower in spatial position than), embaixo (in a lower place), menos de, menos que (lower in value than), a jusante de (downstream of), a sul de (south of)
Spanish	bajo, so, sota (lower in spatial position than), abajo (in a lower place), bajo cero (of a temperature: below zero), más abajo (later in the same text)

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 below come from?

From Middle English bilooghe, equivalent to be- + low. Compare also earlier Middle English alogh, alow, aloȝ, alowe (“below”), benethen (“beneath”), Dutch omlaag (“downwards”).