chive
/t͡ʃaɪv/noun, verb
chive is spelled C-H-I-V-E: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,122nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chive means “A perennial plant, Allium schoenoprasum, related to the onion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chive is chives.
How many letters and syllables are in chive?
| Letters | 5: C-H-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 74,122nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is chive?
Chive appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,122nd 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 chive?
- /t͡ʃaɪv/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-chive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of chive
- chives plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cive
- chithe
- chire
- chieve
- chife
- chiv
- chiving participle, present
- chived participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A perennial plant, Allium schoenoprasum, related to the onion.
- 2
The leaves of this plant used as a herb.
Chive herb. (attributive use)
- 3
The spring onion; the green onion; the scallion.
- 4
A piece cut off; sliver.
- 5
obsoleteThe filament which supports the anther of a flower; stamen, especially of saffron.
- 6
A knife.
- 7
A file.
- 8
A saw.
verb
- 1
To stab.
- 2
To cut.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ciboulette, cive |
| German | Schnittlauch, Binsenlauch, Graslauch |
| Portuguese | cebolinha |
| Spanish | cebolleta, cebollino, cebollana , cebollines, puerrito |
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 chive come from?
From Middle English chive~cyve, from Old French chive~cive, from Latin cēpa (“onion”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).