building
build·ing/ˈbɪl.dɪŋ/noun, verb
building is spelled B-U-I-L-D-I-N-G, 2 syllables: build·ing. The wrong spelling people search most is bulding: about 130 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 59 of all searches for the word. Building is a noun meaning “The act or process by which something is built; construction”. The plural of building is buildings.
How many letters and syllables are in building?
| Letters | 8: B-U-I-L-D-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: build·ing |
| In writing | 195 times per million words; the 516th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 5; the most searched, bulding, about 130 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); 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 building?
Building is spelled B-U-I-L-D-I-N-G. 5 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 20 of the searches for building in either form.
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 building?
Building appears 195 times per million words in written English, the 516th 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 building?
- /ˈbɪl.dɪŋ/
Building has 2 syllables, split build·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-building.wav, En-us-building.ogg, En-uk-building.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of building
- buildings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does building mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act or process by which something is built; construction.
The building of the bridge will be completed in a couple of weeks.
- 2
A closed structure with walls and a roof.
My sister lives in that apartment building.
- 3
Synonym of Tits building.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of build
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate building?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of building: bldg, bldg..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Building in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | construction , immeuble, édifice, bâtiment |
| German | Bau, Bauen , Gebäude |
| Portuguese | construção, edificação , edifício, prédio |
| Spanish | edificación, construcción, cimentación , edificio, inmueble |
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 building come from?
From Middle English byldynge, buyldyng, byldyng, buldynge, buldyng, boldyng, equivalent to build + -ing. Compare also related Middle English bold (“edifice, castle, mansion”), from Old English bold (“building, dwelling, house”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).