chin
/ˈt͡ʃɪn/noun, verb
chin is spelled C-H-I-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chin means “The bottom of a face, (specifically) the typically jutting jawline below the mouth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chin is chins.
How many letters and syllables are in chin?
| Letters | 4: C-H-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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 chin?
Chin appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st 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 chin?
- /ˈt͡ʃɪn/
- [ˈt͡ʃʰɪn]
Chin has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-chin.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with chin?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as chin.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: inch.
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 chin
- chins plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- chinning participle, present
- chinned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The bottom of a face, (specifically) the typically jutting jawline below the mouth.
What does it mean to have a pointy chin instead of a flat chin?
- 2
USslangTalk.
- 3
UKslangA lie, a falsehood.
- 4
UKslangA person of the upper class.
- 5
The ability to withstand being punched in the chin without being knocked out.
- 6
The lower part of the front of an aircraft, below the nose.
To paint chins of aircraft
- 7
The bottom part of a mobile phone, below the screen.
The phone's chin looks different from the rest of it.
- 8
informalA chinchilla.
verb
- 1
datedslangTo talk.
- 2
datedslangTo talk to or with (someone).
- 3
To perform a chin-up (exercise in which one lifts one's own weight while hanging from a bar).
- 4
UKTo punch or hit (someone), especially on the chin (part of the body).
- 5
To put or hold (a musical instrument) up to one's chin.
- 6
To turn on or operate (a device) using one's chin; to select (a particular setting) using one's chin.
- 7
To put one's chin on (something).
- 8
To indicate or point toward (someone or something) with one's chin.
noun
- 1
A tribe in Myanmar.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense bottom of a face:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | menton |
| German | Kinn, Koi, Kehn, Chimmi, Kjen |
| Portuguese | queixo, mento |
| Spanish | barbilla, mentón, pera |
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 chin come from?
From Middle English chyn, from Old English ċinn (“chin”), from Proto-West Germanic *kinnu, from Proto-Germanic *kinnuz (“chin”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus (“chin, jaw”). Compare West Frisian/Dutch kin, Low German/German Kinn, Danish kind, Icelandic kinn, Welsh gen, Latin gena, Tocharian A śanweṃ, Ancient Greek γένυς (génus, “jaw”), Armenian ծնոտ (cnot), Persian چانه (čâne), Sanskrit हनु (hánu). Doublet of gena.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).