bring
/ˈbɹɪŋ/verb, interjection
bring is spelled B-R-I-N-G: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 186 times per million words in written English, the 546th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, bring means “To transport toward somebody/somewhere” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bring?
| Letters | 5: B-R-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 186 times per million words; the 546th 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 bring?
Bring appears 186 times per million words in written English, the 546th 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 bring?
- /ˈbɹɪŋ/
- /ˈbɹɪŋɡ/
As an interjection (“The sound of a telephone ringing”): /ʙɹɪŋ/, /ˈbɹɪŋ/, /ˈbɹɪŋɡ/.
Bring 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: En-us-bring.ogg, En-uk-to_bring.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bring
- brings present, singular, he/she/it
- bringing participle, present
- brought past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bring mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To transport toward somebody/somewhere.
Waiter, please bring me a single malt whiskey.
- 2
To supply or contribute.
The new company director brought a fresh perspective on sales and marketing.
- 3
To occasion or bring about.
Let's bring our differences to an issue.
- 4
To raise (a lawsuit, charges, etc.) against somebody.
- 5
To persuade; to induce; to draw; to lead; to guide.
- 6
To produce in exchange; to sell for; to fetch.
What does coal bring per ton?
- 7
To pitch, often referring to a particularly hard thrown fastball.
The closer Jones can really bring it.
- 8
To move a piece into a more active position, esp. to initially develop it.
You want to bring the rook and then start pushing your pawns.
interjection
- 1
The sound of a telephone ringing.
Near-synonyms: ring-a-ding, ding-a-ling
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bring in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to transport toward somebody/somewhere:
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 bring come from?
From Middle English bryngen, from Old English bringan, from Proto-West Germanic *bringan, from Proto-Germanic *bringaną (“to bring”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenk-, possibly based on *bʰer-. Compare Scots bring, West Frisian bringe, Low German brengen, Dutch brengen, Afrikaans bring, German bringen; also Welsh hebrwng (“to bring, lead”), Tocharian B pränk- (“to take away; restrain oneself, hold back”), Latvian brankti (“lying close”), Lithuanian branktas (“whiffletree”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).