cargo
car·go/ˈkɑɹɡoʊ/noun, verb
cargo is spelled C-A-R-G-O: 5 letters and 2 syllables (car·go). It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,206th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cargo means “Freight carried by a ship, aircraft, or motor vehicle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cargo is cargos or cargoes.
How many letters and syllables are in cargo?
| Letters | 5: C-A-R-G-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: car·go |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,206th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cargo?
Cargo appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,206th 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 cargo?
- UK /ˈkɑːɡəʊ/
- US /ˈkɑɹɡoʊ/
Cargo has 2 syllables, split car·go in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cargo.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cargo?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cargo from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹɡoʊ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cargo
- cargos plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cargoes plural
- cargoing participle, present
- cargoed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cargo mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Freight carried by a ship, aircraft, or motor vehicle.
The plane was overloaded with cargo. It was a cargo of live animals.
- 2
Western material goods.
verb
- 1
To load with freight.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cargo in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense freight carried by a ship:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cargaison |
| German | Fracht, Ladung, Cargo |
| Portuguese | carga |
| Spanish | carga, cargamento, cargazón |
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 cargo come from?
Borrowed from Spanish cargo (“load, burden”), from cargar (“to load”), from Late Latin carricō. Doublet of charge and carga. Displaced native Old English fearm.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).