c
/siː/letter, number, preposition, adverb, noun, verb
c is spelled C: one letter and one syllable. It appears 214 times per million words in written English, the 471st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a letter, c means “The third letter of the English alphabet, called cee and written in the Latin script” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in c?
| Letters | 1: C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 214 times per million words; the 471st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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).
How common is c?
C appears 214 times per million words in written English, the 471st 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 c?
- /siː/
- /k/
- /s/
C 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-c.ogg, En-us-c.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with c
Sounds like: cee, sea, see, si (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of c
- cs plural
- c's plural
- c@s plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does c mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
letter
- 1
The third letter of the English alphabet, called cee and written in the Latin script.
number
- 1
The third numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called cee and written in the Latin script.
noun
- 1
The middle tone in either one of the sets of seven white keys on a keyboard or a set of seven strings on a stringed instrument.
- 2
Alternative form of c.
letter
- 1
The third letter of the English alphabet, called cee and written in the Latin script.
number
- 1
The third numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called cee and written in the Latin script.
symbol
- 1
A standard size of dry cell battery between A and D.
noun
- 1
USslangOne hundred dollars; a c-note.
- 2
The first note in the C chromatic and major scales.
- 3
An academic grade better than a D and worse than a B.
- 4
Canonical Decomposition, followed by Canonical Composition
- 5
slangCocaine.
Where did you secure the C? My own supply is utterly depleted.
- 6
slangvulgarCunt.
- 7
Abbreviation of consonant.
- 8
UKAbbreviation of Conservative.
- 9
Abbreviation of costa.
verb
- 1
Abbreviation of see.
adjective
- 1
colloquialWith sugar and evaporated milk added.
preposition
- 1
With.
symbol
- 1
datedAn orthographic ⟨c⟩ with a diacritic that marks it as being the consonant /s/, as in the word "celestial".
preposition
- 1
Alternative form of c.
adverb
- 1
Alternative form of c.
verb
- 1
Abbreviation of see.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
C in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 c come from?
Old English lower case letter c, from 7th century replacement by Latin lower case c of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚳ (c, “cen”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).