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PlainSpell

document

/ˈdɑkjʊmənt/noun, verb

document is spelled D-O-C-U-M-E-N-T. The wrong spelling people search most is doccument: about 70 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 278 of all searches for the word. Document is a noun meaning “An original or official paper used as the basis, proof, or support of anything else, including any writing…”. The plural of document is documents.

How many letters and syllables are in document?

Letters8: D-O-C-U-M-E-N-T
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing32 times per million words; the 2,992nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, doccument, about 70 Bing searches a month (all of them)

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); 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).

How do you spell document?

Document is spelled D-O-C-U-M-E-N-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 280 of the searches for document in either form.

documentthe right spelling19,500 searches a month
doccumentan extra c70 searches a month

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 document?

Document appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,992nd 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 document?

  • UK /ˈdɒkjʊmənt/
  • US /ˈdɑkjʊmənt/

As a verb (“To record in documents”): /ˈdɒkjʊmɛnt/, /ˈdɑkjʊmɛnt/.

Document 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-document.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-document_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of document

  • documents plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • documenting participle, present
  • documented participle, past

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

What does document mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    An original or official paper used as the basis, proof, or support of anything else, including any writing, book, or other instrument conveying information pertinent to such proof or support.

  2. 2

    Any material substance on which the information is represented by writing.

  3. 3

    A file that contains text.

  4. 4

    An object conveying information by whatever means, capable of being indexed alongside other similar objects.

  5. 5

    obsoleteThat which is taught or authoritatively set forth; precept; instruction; dogma.

  6. 6

    obsoleteAn example for instruction or warning.

verb

  1. 1

    To record in documents.

    He documented each step of the process as he did it, which was good when the investigation occurred.

  2. 2

    To furnish with documents or papers necessary to establish facts or give information.

    A ship should be documented according to the directions of law.

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

How do you abbreviate document?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of document: doc..

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

Document in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdocument, écrit (original or official paper), documenter (to record in documents)
GermanUnterlagen, Dokument, Aktenstück, Schriftstück (original or official paper), dokumentieren (to record in documents)
Portuguesedocumento (original or official paper), documentar (to record in documents)
Spanishdocumento, pliego, cédula (original or official paper), anotar, registrar, documentar (to record in documents)

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 document come from?

Borrowed from Middle French document, from Latin documentum.

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

What to look up after document