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PlainSpell

char

/t͡ʃɑɹ/verb, noun

char is spelled C-H-A-R: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, char means “To burn something to charcoal; to be burnt to charcoal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in char?

Letters4: C-H-A-R
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
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 char?

Char appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th 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 char?

  • UK /t͡ʃɑː/
  • UK [t͡ʃaː]
  • US /t͡ʃɑɹ/

As a noun (“Any of the several species of fishes of the genus Salvelinus”): /t͡ʃɑː/, /t͡ʃɑɹ/, [t͡ʃɑɹ].

As a noun (“A character (text element such as a letter or symbol)”): /ˈkæɹ/, /t͡ʃɑː/, /kɛə/.

Char 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-char.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with char

Also written: cha.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with char?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as char from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: arch, rach.

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 char

  • chars present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • charring participle, present
  • charred participle, past
  • charr
  • chare
  • charing participle, present
  • chared participle, past

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

What does char mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To burn something to charcoal; to be burnt to charcoal.

    I charred the wood.

  2. 2

    To burn (something) severely, so as to blacken it.

    The fire charred her down to the bone.

  3. 3

    To burn (something) slightly or superficially so as to affect colour.

    The chef charred the scallops just right.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo turn, especially away or aside.

  5. 5

    To work, especially to do housework; to work by the day, without being a regularly hired servant.

    Her husband had been a soldier, and from a grateful country she received a pension large enough to keep her from starvation, and by charring and doing such odd jobs as she could get she earned a little extra to supply herself with liquor.

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo perform; to do; to finish.

  7. 7

    To work or hew (stone, etc.)

noun

  1. 1

    A charred substance.

  2. 2

    Any of the several species of fishes of the genus Salvelinus.

    Among other native delicacies, they give you fresh char.

  3. 3

    obsoleteA time; a turn or occasion.

  4. 4

    obsoleteA turn of work; a labour or item of business.

  5. 5

    An odd job, a chore or piece of housework.

  6. 6

    A charlady, a woman employed to do housework; cleaning lady.

    I had to scrub the kitchen today, because the char couldn't come.

  7. 7

    A character (text element such as a letter or symbol).

    .NET uses the Unicode character set in which each char constant or variable takes up two bytes (16 bits) of storage.

  8. 8

    colloquialA character (being involved in the action of a story).

  9. 9

    UKAlternative form of cha (“tea”).

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

Char in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcarboniser (to burn something to charcoal), omble (fish), femme de ménage, bonne (cleaning woman)
Germanankohlen, verkohlen (to burn something to charcoal), Saibling (fish), ansengen, versengen (to burn slightly), Kohle (charred substance)
Portuguesecarbonizar (to burn something to charcoal), chamuscar (to burn slightly), char (a character in programming)
Spanishcarbonizar (to burn something to charcoal), salvelino (fish), tostón (charred substance)

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 char come from?

Back-formation from charcoal.

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

What to look up after char