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PlainSpell

build

/bɪld/verb, noun

build is spelled B-U-I-L-D. The wrong spelling people search most is bulid: about 80 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 102 of all searches for the word. Build is a verb meaning “To form (something) by combining materials or parts”.

How many letters and syllables are in build?

Letters5: B-U-I-L-D
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing110 times per million words; the 972nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, bulid, about 80 Bing searches a month (all of them)
Sounds like

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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you spell build?

Build is spelled B-U-I-L-D. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 102 of the searches for build in either form.

buildthe right spelling8,070 searches a month
bulidi and l swapped80 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is build?

Build appears 110 times per million words in written English, the 972nd 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 build?

  • /bɪld/

Build 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-uk-to_build.ogg, En-us-build.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with build

Sounds like: billed (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of build

  • builds present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • building participle, present
  • built participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

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

What does build mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To form (something) by combining materials or parts.

    I built a shed in my backyard.

  2. 2

    To develop or give form to (something) according to a plan or process.

    He will build an organization equipped for success.

  3. 3

    To increase or strengthen (something) by adding gradually to it.

    We need to build an income stream over time.

  4. 4

    To establish a basis for (something).

  5. 5

    To form by combining materials or parts.

  6. 6

    To develop in magnitude or extent.

    The tension built between the sparring sisters.

  7. 7

    To construct (software) by compiling its source code.

  8. 8

    To be converted into software by compilation, usually with minimal human intervention.

    This code won’t build any more. Have you made any changes?

noun

  1. 1

    The physique of a human or animal body, or other object; constitution or structure.

    Rugby players are of sturdy build.

  2. 2

    Any of various versions of a software product as it is being developed for release to users.

    The computer company has introduced a new prototype build to beta testers.

  3. 3

    The process or period of constructing a physical object.

    This new Lego set was a very nice build.

  4. 4

    slangA structure, such as a building, statue, pool or forest created by the player.

    I made a build that looked like the Parthenon in that game.

  5. 5

    slangA configuration of a character's items or skills created by the player.

    I made a build centered around attack speed.

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

Build in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchconstruire, édifier, ériger, bâtir ((transitive) to form by combining materials or…), monter ((transitive) to develop or give form to…), fonder ((transitive) to establish a basis for)
Germanbauen ((transitive) to form by combining materials or…), Bau, Körperbau (physique)
Portugueseconstruir ((transitive) to form by combining materials or…), físico (physique), compilar ((transitive, computing) to construct software…)
Spanishconstruir, edificar, labrar ((transitive) to form by combining materials or…), complexión, complixión (physique), compilar ((transitive, computing) to construct software…)

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 build come from?

From Middle English bilden, bulden, bylden, from Old English byldan and bytlan, bytlian (“to build”), from Proto-West Germanic *buþlijan (“to build”), from Proto-Germanic *buþlą, *bōþlą (“house, dwelling, farm”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become, grow, thrive, be, live, dwell”). Related to Old English botl (“building, house”). More at bottle. False cognate of German bilden.

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

What to look up after build