define
de·fine/dɪˈfaɪn/verb, noun
define is spelled D-E-F-I-N-E, 2 syllables: de·fine. The wrong spelling people search most is deffine: about 10 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026). Define is a verb meaning “To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly”.
How many letters and syllables are in define?
| Letters | 6: D-E-F-I-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: de·fine |
| In writing | 20 times per million words; the 4,224th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, deffine, about 10 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| 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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell define?
Define is spelled D-E-F-I-N-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is define?
Define appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,224th 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 define?
- /dɪˈfaɪn/
Define has 2 syllables, split de·fine in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-define.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with define?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as define.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: infeed.
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 define
- defines present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- defining participle, present
- defined participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does define mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly.
the defining power of an optical instrument
- 2
obsoleteTo settle, decide (an argument etc.).
- 3
To express the essential nature of something.
I define myself as a techno-anarchist.
- 4
To state the meaning of a word, phrase, sign, or symbol.
The textbook defined speed as velocity divided by time.
- 5
To describe, explain, or make definite and clear; used to request the listener or other person to elaborate or explain more clearly his or her intended meaning of a word or expression.
Person 1: Is she good at math? Person 2: Define "good." If you mean if she is faster than the average middle schooler at multiplication, then yes. If you mean if she is able to do multivariable calculus, then no.
- 6
To demark sharply the outlines or limits of an area or concept.
to define the legal boundaries of a property
- 7
To establish the referent of a term or notation.
noun
- 1
A kind of macro in source code that replaces one text string with another wherever it occurs.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Define in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | déterminer , définir |
| German | bestimmen , definieren |
| Portuguese | definir |
| Spanish | determinar, definir, definirse , aclarar |
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 define come from?
From Middle English definen, from Old French definer, variant of definir, from Latin dēfīniō (“limit, settle, define”), from dē + fīniō (“set a limit, bound, end”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).