bile
/baɪl/noun, verb
bile is spelled B-I-L-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bile means “A bitter brownish-yellow or greenish-yellow secretion produced by the liver, stored in the gall bladder, and discharged into the duodenum where it…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bile is biles.
How many letters and syllables are in bile?
| Letters | 4: B-I-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.6 times per million words; the 22,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is bile?
Bile appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd 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 bile?
- /baɪl/
- /ˈbaɪ.əl/
Bile 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-bile.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bile
- biles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- biling participle, present
- bileing participle, present
- biled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bile mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A bitter brownish-yellow or greenish-yellow secretion produced by the liver, stored in the gall bladder, and discharged into the duodenum where it aids the process of digestion.
- 2
Bitterness of temper; ill humour; irascibility.
- 3
Either of two of the four humours, black bile or yellow bile, in ancient and medieval physiology.
- 4
obsoleteA boil (kind of swelling).
verb
- 1
Pronunciation spelling of boil.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bile in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense secretion produced by the liver:
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 bile come from?
From Middle French bile, from Latin bīlis (“bile”). Partially displaced native English gall (“bile”), from Middle English galle, from Old English galla, ġealla (“gall, bile”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).