cis
/sɪs/adjective
cis is spelled C-I-S: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, cis means “Having two mutations on two genes on the same chromosome of a homologous pair” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in cis?
| Letters | 3: C-I-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 3.9 times per million words; the 13,127th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| 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 cis?
Cis appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th 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 cis?
- /sɪs/
Cis has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cis-pronounciation.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sis.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-CIS.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with cis
Sounds like: sis (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: cys.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with cis?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as cis.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sic.
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).
What does cis mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having two mutations on two genes on the same chromosome of a homologous pair.
- 2
Of the side of the Golgi apparatus nearer to the endoplasmic reticulum.
- 3
In (or constituting, forming, or describing) a double bond in which the greater radical on both ends is on the same side of the bond.
- 4
In (or constituting, forming, or describing) a coordination compound in which the two instances of a particular ligand are adjacent to each other.
The cis effect is the labilization of ligands which are cis to certain other ligands.
- 5
Cisgender (or sometimes cissexual): not trans (transgender or transsexual) nor non-binary.
noun
- 1
Initialism of contact image sensor.
- 2
Initialism of clinical information system.
- 3
Initialism of clinically isolated syndrome.
- 4
Initialism of customer information screen.
noun
- 1
plural of CI
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cis in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 cis come from?
From Latin cis (“on this side (of), on the near or same side”). Doublet of he, it, here, hither, and hence.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).