business
busi·ness/ˈbɪz.nɪs/noun, adjective
business is spelled B-U-S-I-N-E-S-S, 2 syllables: busi·ness. The wrong spelling people search most is buisness: about 2,820 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 13 of all searches for the word. Business is a noun meaning “A specific commercial enterprise or establishment”. The plural of business is businesses.
How many letters and syllables are in business?
| Letters | 8: B-U-S-I-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: busi·ness |
| In writing | 363 times per million words; the 250th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 6; the most searched, buisness, about 2,820 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 business?
Business is spelled B-U-S-I-N-E-S-S. 6 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for business 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 business?
Business appears 363 times per million words in written English, the 250th 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 business?
- /ˈbɪz.nɪs/
- /ˈbɪz.nɪz/
- /ˈbɪz.nəs/
Business has 2 syllables, split busi·ness in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-business.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-business.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of business
- businesses plural
- biz
- bizness
- bidness
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does business mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A specific commercial enterprise or establishment.
I left my father's business.
- 2
A person's occupation, work, or trade.
He is in the motor and insurance businesses.
- 3
Commercial, industrial, or professional activity.
He's such a poor cook, I can't believe he's still in business!
- 4
The volume or amount of commercial trade.
Business has been slow lately.
- 5
One's dealings; patronage.
I shall take my business elsewhere.
- 6
Private commercial interests taken collectively.
This proposal will satisfy both business and labor.
- 7
The management of commercial enterprises, or the study of such management.
I studied business at Harvard.
- 8
A particular situation or activity.
This UFO stuff is a mighty strange business.
adjective
- 1
Of, to, pertaining to, or used for purposes of conducting trade, commerce, governance, advocacy or other professional purposes.
Please do not use this phone for personal calls; it is a business phone.
- 2
Professional, businesslike, having concern for good business practice.
- 3
Supporting business, conducive to the conduct of business.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate business?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of business: Bus., bus..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Business in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | entreprise, firme, compagnie , affaire |
| German | Geschäft, Unternehmen, Firma , Angelegenheit |
| Portuguese | negócio, empresa , ramo, trabalho |
| Spanish | empresa, negocio, negociado, bisnes , asunto |
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.