borrow
bor·row/ˈbɒɹəʊ/verb, noun
borrow is spelled B-O-R-R-O-W: 6 letters and 2 syllables (bor·row). It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, borrow means “To receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in borrow?
| Letters | 6: B-O-R-R-O-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: bor·row |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 borrow?
Borrow appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st 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 borrow?
- UK /ˈbɒɹəʊ/
- /ˈbɒɹə/
- /ˈbɔɹo/
Borrow has 2 syllables, split bor·row in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-borrow.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with borrow?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as borrow from its last stressed vowel (/ɒɹəʊ/, 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 borrow
- borrows present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- borrowing participle, present
- borrowed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- boro
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does borrow mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it.
- 2
To receive money from a bank or other lender under the agreement that the lender will be paid back over time.
- 3
To adopt (an idea) as one's own.
to borrow the style, manner, or opinions of another
- 4
To adopt a word from another language.
- 5
In a subtraction, to deduct (one) from a digit of the minuend and add ten to the following digit, in order that the subtraction of a larger digit in the subtrahend from the digit in the minuend to which ten is added gives a positive result.
- 6
proscribedTo lend.
- 7
To temporarily obtain (something) for (someone).
- 8
To feign or counterfeit.
noun
- 1
Deviation of the path of a rolling ball from a straight line; slope; slant.
This putt has a big left-to right borrow on it.
- 2
A borrow pit.
- 3
In Rust and some other programming languages, the situation where the ownership of a value is temporarily transferred to another region of code.
- 4
archaicA ransom; a pledge or guarantee.
- 5
archaicA surety; someone standing bail.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Borrow in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | emprunter , retenir |
| German | borgen, ausleihen, leihen , übertragen , entlehnen |
| Portuguese | emprestar, tomar emprestado, pegar emprestado, pedir emprestado , adoptar, adotar |
| Spanish | pedir prestado, tomar prestado, emprestar, sacar prestado , calcar |
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 borrow come from?
From Middle English borwen, from Old English borgian (“to borrow, lend, pledge surety for”), from Proto-West Germanic *borgōn, from Proto-Germanic *burgōną (“to pledge, take care of”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to take care”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).