download
/ˈdaʊnˌloʊd/noun, verb
download is spelled D-O-W-N-L-O-A-D. The wrong spelling people search most is dowload: about 430 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 91 of all searches for the word. Download is a noun meaning “A file transfer to a given computer or device from a remote one through a network connection”. The plural of download is downloads.
How many letters and syllables are in download?
| Letters | 8: D-O-W-N-L-O-A-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 48 times per million words; the 2,113th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 4; the most searched, dowload, about 430 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| 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); 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 download?
Download is spelled D-O-W-N-L-O-A-D. 4 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 41 of the searches for download in either form.
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 download?
Download appears 48 times per million words in written English, the 2,113th 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 download?
- /ˈdaʊnˌləʊd/
- US /ˈdaʊnˌloʊd/
As a verb (“To transfer data to a given computer from a remote one via…”): /ˌdaʊnˈləʊd/, /ˈdaʊnˌloʊd/.
Download 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-download.wav, En-us-download.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-download2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with download?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as download (/aʊnloʊd/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: woodland.
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 download
- downloads plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- dl
- d/l
- downloading participle, present
- downloaded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does download mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A file transfer to a given computer or device from a remote one through a network connection.
The download took longer than I expected.
- 2
A file that has been or is intended to be transferred in this way.
I got the download but it wouldn't work on my computer.
verb
- 1
To transfer data to a given computer from a remote one via a network.
You can download a trial version of the program for thirty days to determine whether you want to purchase the full version.
- 2
nonstandardSynonym of upload: to send data from a given computer to a remote one.
- 3
nonstandardSynonym of copy: to transfer data to or from removable media.
When I was your age, there were no flash drives. I needed to download photos to a CD-ROM.
- 4
nonstandardSynonym of install: to load software forced.
- 5
To load a gun (especially a muzzle-loader) with less propellant than its designed load.
- 6
CanadaTo transfer jurisdiction and responsibility of a government asset or service to a lower level of government.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate download?
Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of download: D/L, DL, d/l.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Download in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | téléchargement , télécharger |
| German | Download, Herunterladen , herunterladen, downloaden |
| Portuguese | download, descarregamento , descarregar, baixar, fazer download, sacar |
| Spanish | descarga, transferencia directa, bajada, bajamiento cibernético, ciberbajamiento , descargar |
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 download come from?
From down- + load. Verbal form first appears c. 1962 in the Wichita Falls (Texas) Times. Nominal form first appears c. 1977 in Scientific American.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).