cheque
/t͡ʃɛk/noun
cheque is spelled C-H-E-Q-U-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “check vs cheque” about 1,300 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, cheque means “A written order directing a bank to pay money to a person or entity” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cheque is cheques.
How many letters and syllables are in cheque?
| Letters | 6: C-H-E-Q-U-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.1 times per million words; the 15,146th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 cheque?
Cheque appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th 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 cheque?
- /t͡ʃɛk/
Cheque 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-AU_ck1_cheque.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with cheque
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: Czech, check (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 cheque
- cheques plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cheque mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
CommonwealthIrelandUKA written order directing a bank to pay money to a person or entity.
I was not carrying cash, so I wrote a cheque for the amount.
- 2
CanadaA bill to be paid, particularly in a restaurant.
I summoned the waiter, paid the cheque, and hurried to leave.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate cheque?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of cheque: chq..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cheque in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a note promising to pay money to a named person or entity:
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 cheque come from?
From check, possibly influenced by exchequer. First attested in the 1790s.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).