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PlainSpell

body

bo·dyUK /ˈbɒdi/noun, verb

body is spelled B-O-D-Y: 4 letters and 2 syllables (bo·dy). It appears 251 times per million words in written English, the 387th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, body means “The physical structure of a human or animal seen as one single organism” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of body is bodies.

How many letters and syllables are in body?

Letters4: B-O-D-Y
Syllables2: bo·dy
In writing251 times per million words; the 387th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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 body?

Body appears 251 times per million words in written English, the 387th 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 body?

  • UK /ˈbɒdi/
  • UK [ˈbɒdɪi̯] ~(conservatively)[ˈbɒdɪ]
  • British /ˈbɔdiɪj/

Body has 2 syllables, split bo·dy in writing.

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

What rhymes with body?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as body from its last stressed vowel (/ɒdi/, British pronunciation):

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 body

  • bodies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • bodying participle, present
  • bodied participle, past

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

What does body mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    The physical structure of a human or animal seen as one single organism.

    I saw them walking from a distance, their bodies strangely angular in the dawn light.

  2. 2

    The fleshly or corporeal nature of a human, as opposed to the spirit or soul.

    The body is driven by desires, but the soul is at peace.

  3. 3

    A corpse.

    Her body was found at four o’clock, just two hours after the murder.

  4. 4

    slangA murder.

    His gun had two bodies on it.

  5. 5

    A person.

    Indeed, if it belonged to a poor body, it would be another thing; but so great a lady, to be sure, can never want it […]

  6. 6

    A human being, regarded as marginalized or oppressed.

  7. 7

    The torso, the main structure of a human or animal frame excluding the extremities (limbs, head, tail).

    The boxer took a blow to the body.

  8. 8

    The largest or most important part of anything, as distinct from its appendages or accessories; (of vehicles, sometimes) the outer shell (as contrasted with the frame and powertrain).

    The bumpers and front tyres were ruined, but the body of the car was in remarkable shape.

verb

  1. 1

    To give body or shape to something.

  2. 2

    To construct the bodywork of a car.

  3. 3

    To embody.

  4. 4

    slangTo murder someone.

  5. 5

    slangTo utterly defeat someone.

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

Body in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcorps (physical structure of a human or animal), organisation (organisation, company or other authoritative…), corpus (collection of knowledge)
GermanKörper (physical structure of a human or animal), Karosse, Karosserie, Rumpf (largest or most important part of anything…), Funktionsrumpf (programming: code of a subroutine)
Portuguesecorpo (physical structure of a human or animal), grosso, carroceria (largest or most important part of anything…), maiô (bodysuit)
Spanishcuerpo (physical structure of a human or animal), carrocería, carcasa (largest or most important part of anything…)

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 body come from?

From Middle English body, bodi, bodiȝ, from Old English bodiġ, bodeġ (“body, trunk, chest, torso, height, stature”), from Proto-West Germanic *bodag (“body, trunk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake, observe”). Cognate with Old High German botah (“body, corpse, trunk, torso”) (whence Swabian Bottich (“body, torso”), Bavarian Bottich (“body, torso, carcass; lower part of a shirt or jacket”)).

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

What to look up after body