belt
/ˈbɛlt/noun, verb
belt is spelled B-E-L-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,479th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, belt means “A band worn around the waist to hold clothing to one's body (usually pants), hold weapons (such as a gun or sword), or serve as a decorative piece of…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of belt is belts.
How many letters and syllables are in belt?
| Letters | 4: B-E-L-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 26 times per million words; the 3,479th 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 belt?
Belt appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,479th 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 belt?
- /ˈbɛlt/
- [ˈbɛlt]
Belt has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-belt.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with belt?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as belt.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: blet.
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 belt
- belts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- belting participle, present
- belted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does belt mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A band worn around the waist to hold clothing to one's body (usually pants), hold weapons (such as a gun or sword), or serve as a decorative piece of clothing.
As part of the act, the fat clown's belt broke, causing his pants to fall down.
- 2
A band used as a restraint for safety purposes, such as a seat belt.
Keep your belt fastened; this is going to be quite a bumpy ride.
- 3
A band that is used in a machine to help transfer motion or power.
The motor had a single belt that snaked its way back and forth around a variety of wheels.
- 4
Anything that resembles a belt, or that encircles or crosses like a belt; a strip or stripe.
a belt of trees; a belt of sand
- 5
A trophy in the shape of a belt, generally awarded for martial arts.
the heavyweight belt
- 6
A collection of small bodies (such as asteroids) which orbit a star.
- 7
One of certain girdles or zones on the surface of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, supposed to be of the nature of clouds.
- 8
A band of armor along the sides of a warship, protecting the ship's vital spaces.
The battleship was protected by a twelve-inch belt just above the waterline.
verb
- 1
To fasten a belt on; to encircle with a belt.
Edgar belted himself in and turned the car's ignition.
- 2
To encircle; to surround.
The small town was belted by cornfields in all directions.
- 3
To invest (a person) with a belt as part of a formal ceremony such as knighthood.
- 4
To hit with a belt.
The child was misbehaving so he was belted as punishment.
- 5
colloquialTo hit someone or something, especially forcefully; to bash.
The angry player belted the official across the face, and as a result was ejected from the game.
- 6
To hit a pitched ball a long distance, usually for a home run.
He belted that pitch over the grandstand.
- 7
informalTo scream or sing in a loud, strong manner.
He belted out the national anthem.
- 8
To drink quickly, often in gulps.
He belted down a shot of whisky.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Belt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ceinture , courroie , région |
| German | Gürtel , Riemen , Zone , Gurt , schmettern |
| Portuguese | cinto, cinta , correia , cinturão , pancada , cingir |
| Spanish | cinturón, cincho, cinto, correa, faja, pretina |
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 belt come from?
From Middle English belt, from Old English belt (“belt, girdle”), from Proto-West Germanic *baltī̆, from Proto-Germanic *baltijaz (“girdle, belt”), from Latin balteus (“belt, sword-belt”), of Etruscan origin. Cognate with Scots belt (“belt”), Dutch belt, German Balz (“belt”), Danish bælte (“belt”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk belte (“belt”), Swedish bälte (“belt, cincture, girdle, zone”), Faroese and Icelandic belti (“belt”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).