dad
/dæd/noun, verb
dad is spelled D-A-D: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 89 times per million words in written English, the 1,191st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dad means “A father, a male parent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dad is dads.
How many letters and syllables are in dad?
| Letters | 3: D-A-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 89 times per million words; the 1,191st 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 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 dad?
Dad appears 89 times per million words in written English, the 1,191st 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 dad?
- /dæd/
Dad 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-us-dad.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dad?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as dad.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: add.
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 dad
- dads plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- dadding participle, present
- dadded participle, past
- dod
- dodge
- dadge
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dad mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalA father, a male parent.
His dad was always there for him.
- 2
Used to address one's father; often capitalized.
Happy Father's Day, dad!
- 3
slangUsed to address an older adult male.
- 4
A lump or piece.
- 5
A blow; act of striking something.
- 6
Alternative form of daad (“Arabic letter ض”).
verb
- 1
To be a father to; to parent.
- 2
To act like a dad.
- 3
To throw against something; to dash.
noun
- 1
A designation on prerecorded compact discs indicating that the contents were recorded in digital but mixed in analog before being mastered to a digital medium.
- 2
Acronym of diffuse alveolar damage.
- 3
slangAcronym of Dutch angel dragon.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dad in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense informal: a father:
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 dad come from?
From Early Modern English dadd, dadde (circa 1500), undoubtedly older, from unrecorded Middle English *dadde, of uncertain ultimate origin. Compare West Frisian deite (“dad, daddy”), Swabian Dede (“Godfather”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).