deference
/ˈdɛ.fɚ.əns/noun
deference is spelled D-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,418th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, deference means “Great respect” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of deference is deferences.
How many letters and syllables are in deference?
| Letters | 9: D-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,418th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is deference?
Deference appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,418th 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 deference?
- UK /ˈdɛfəɹəns/
- US /ˈdɛ.fɚ.əns/
- US /ˈdɛ.fɹəns/
Deference has 3 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: En-us-deference.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of deference
- deferences plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does deference mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Great respect.
The children treated their elders with deference.
- 2
The willingness to carry out the wishes of others.
By tidying his room, he showed deference to his mother.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Deference in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense great respect:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | respect, déférence |
| German | Ehrerbietung, Respekt, Achtung |
| Portuguese | deferência |
| Spanish | deferencia |
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 deference come from?
From French déférence. Morphologically defer + -ence.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).