chair
/t͡ʃɛə/noun, verb
chair is spelled C-H-A-I-R: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 49 times per million words in written English, the 2,072nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chair means “An item of furniture used to sit on or in, comprising a seat, legs or wheels, back, and sometimes arm rests, for use by one person” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chair is chairs.
How many letters and syllables are in chair?
| Letters | 5: C-H-A-I-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 49 times per million words; the 2,072nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is chair?
Chair appears 49 times per million words in written English, the 2,072nd 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 chair?
- UK /t͡ʃɛə/
- British /t͡ʃɛː/
- /t͡ʃeɾ/
Chair 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-chair.ogg, En-us-chair.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with chair
Sounds like: chare (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with chair?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as chair from its last stressed vowel (/ɛə/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: archi.
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 chair
- chairs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- chur
- chairing participle, present
- chaired participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chair mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An item of furniture used to sit on or in, comprising a seat, legs or wheels, back, and sometimes arm rests, for use by one person.
All I need to weather a snowstorm is hot coffee, a warm fire, a good book and a comfortable chair.
- 2
Clipping of chairperson.
Under the rules of order adopted by the board, the chair may neither make nor second motions.
- 3
The post or position of chairperson.
The meeting began, with Mr Roberts in the chair.
- 4
The seating position of a particular musician in an orchestra.
My violin teacher used to play first chair with the Boston Pops.
- 5
A cast-iron component used on railways to support bullhead rails and secure them to the sleepers.
- 6
One of two possible conformers of cyclohexane rings (the other being boat), shaped roughly like a chair.
- 7
informalEllipsis of electric chair (“device used for performing execution”).
The court will show no mercy; if he gets convicted, it's the chair for him.
- 8
A distinguished professorship at a university.
verb
- 1
To act as chairperson at; to preside over.
Bob will chair tomorrow's meeting.
- 2
To carry in a seated position upon one's shoulders, especially in celebration or victory.
- 3
UKTo award a chair to (a winning poet) at a Welsh eisteddfod.
The poet was chaired at the national Eisteddfod.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chair in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | chaise, fauteuil , chaire , présider |
| German | Sessel, Stuhl , Lehrstuhl , Vorsitz m führen |
| Portuguese | cadeira , cátedra , comandar, dirigir |
| Spanish | silla, asiento, butaca, cadera , eminencia , presidir |
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 chair come from?
From Middle English chayere, chayer, chayre, from Old French chaiere, chaere, from Latin cathedra (“seat”), from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).