dave
verb
dave is spelled D-A-V-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,364th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Dave, the name). As a verb, dave means “To assuage; soften; mitigate; relieve; calm; alleviate (pain)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dave?
| Letters | 4: D-A-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 28 times per million words; the 3,364th 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 dave?
Dave appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,364th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Dave, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dave?
- US
Dave 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-dave.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dave?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as dave.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: veda, deva, vade.
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 dave
- daves present, singular, he/she/it
- daving participle, present
- daved participle, past
- daive
- deave
- deve
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dave mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
UKTo assuage; soften; mitigate; relieve; calm; alleviate (pain).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does dave come from?
From Middle English deven, deaven (“to make deaf”), from Old English dēafian (“to wax or become deaf”) and Old Norse deyfa (“to make deaf, make blunt, numb, soothe, allay”). Cognate with dialectal Norwegian døyva (“to deafen, make dull”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).