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PlainSpell

buy

[baɪ]verb, noun

buy is spelled B-U-Y: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 209 times per million words in written English, the 483rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “buy vs by” about 70 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, buy means “To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in buy?

Letters3: B-U-Y
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing209 times per million words; the 483rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
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 common is buy?

Buy appears 209 times per million words in written English, the 483rd 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 buy?

  • /baɪ/
  • US [baɪ]
  • British [bɑj]

Buy 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-buy.ogg, En-uk-to_buy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with buy

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

buy vs by70 G
buy vs bye30 G

Sounds like: bi, by, bye (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of buy

  • buys present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • buying participle, present
  • bought past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • buie

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

What does buy mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods.

    Who'd Father buy the car for? He bought it for me, not for you.

  2. 2

    To obtain, especially by some sacrifice.

    I've bought material comfort by foregoing my dreams.

  3. 3

    archaicTo suffer consequences for (something) through being deprived of something; to pay for (something one has done).

  4. 4

    To bribe.

    He tried to buy me with gifts, but I wouldn't give up my beliefs.

  5. 5

    To be equivalent to in value.

    The dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to.

  6. 6

    informalto accept as true; to believe

    I'm not going to buy your stupid excuses anymore!

  7. 7

    To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a drink, meal or gift)

    She buys for Federated.

  8. 8

    slangTo make a bluff, usually a large one.

    Smith tried to buy the pot on the river with a huge bluff.

noun

  1. 1

    Something which is bought; a purchase.

    At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy.

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

Buy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchacheter (to obtain something with money), gober (to accept as true)
Germankaufen (to obtain something with money), abkaufen, abnehmen (to accept as true)
Portuguesecomprar, adquirir (to obtain something with money), engolir (to accept as true)
Spanishcomprar, mercar (to obtain something with money), creer (to accept as true), convidar (to treat)

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 buy come from?

From Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to take away, deliver”).

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

What to look up after buy