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PlainSpell

decode

UK /dɪˈkəʊd/verb, noun

decode is spelled D-E-C-O-D-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, decode means “To convert from an encrypted form to plain text” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in decode?

Letters6: D-E-C-O-D-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.0 times per million words; the 28,214th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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 decode?

Decode appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th 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 decode?

  • UK /dɪˈkəʊd/
  • UK /diːˈkəʊd/

Decode has 2 syllables (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)-Vealhurl-decode.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with decode?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as decode from its last stressed vowel (/əʊd/, British pronunciation):

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 decode

  • decodes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • decoding participle, present
  • decoded participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does decode mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To convert from an encrypted form to plain text.

    The cryptographer decoded the secret message and sent the result to the officer.

  2. 2

    To figure out something difficult to interpret.

    I finally managed to decode the nearly illegible doctor's prescription.

noun

  1. 1

    A product of decoding

  2. 2

    Output from a program or device used to interpret communication protocols

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Decode in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdécoder (to convert from an encrypted form to plain text)
Germandecodieren (to convert from an encrypted form to plain text)
Portuguesedescodificar, decodificar (to convert from an encrypted form to plain text)
Spanishdecodificar, descodificar (to convert from an encrypted form to plain text), traducir (to figure out something difficult to interpret)

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 decode come from?

From de- + code.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after decode