bout
/ˈbaʊt/noun, verb, preposition
bout is spelled B-O-U-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bout means “A period of something, especially one painful or unpleasant, like an illness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bout is bouts.
How many letters and syllables are in bout?
| Letters | 4: B-O-U-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 11 times per million words; the 6,565th 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 bout?
Bout appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,565th 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 bout?
- /ˈbaʊt/
- Canada /bʌʊt/
Bout 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-bout.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bout
- bouts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- bouting participle, present
- bouted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bout mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A period of something, especially one painful or unpleasant, like an illness.
a bout of drought
- 2
A boxing match.
- 3
An assault (a fencing encounter) at which the score is kept.
- 4
A roller derby match.
- 5
A fighting competition.
- 6
A bulge or widening in a musical instrument, such as either of the two characteristic bulges of a guitar.
- 7
datedThe going and returning of a plough, or other implement used to mark the ground and create a headland, across a field.
verb
- 1
To contest a bout.
preposition
- 1
colloquialApheretic form of about.
They're talking bout you!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bout in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 bout come from?
From Middle English bout, bowt, bught (whence also modern English bought (“bend, curve”)), probably from Old English *buht (“bend, turn”), an unrecorded variant of Old English byht (“a bend, curve”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhti, from Proto-Germanic *buhtiz (“a bend”). Equivalent to bow + -t. Doublet of bight and bought. Compare Dutch bocht and German Bucht. For the sense development compare bender.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).