due
/djuː/adjective, adverb, noun
due is spelled D-U-E: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 224 times per million words in written English, the 447th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “do vs due” about 1,000 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, due means “Owed or owing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in due?
| Letters | 3: D-U-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 224 times per million words; the 447th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people 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); 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 common is due?
Due appears 224 times per million words in written English, the 447th 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 due?
- /djuː/
- /dʒuː/
- /djʉw/
Due has one syllable (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-due.wav, En-uk-dew.ogg, En-us-dew.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with due
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of due
- more due comparative
- most due superlative
- dues plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does due mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Owed or owing.
He is due four weeks of back pay.
- 2
Appropriate.
With all due respect, you're wrong about that.
- 3
Scheduled; expected.
Rain is due this afternoon.
- 4
Having reached the expected, scheduled, or natural time.
The baby is just about due.
- 5
Owing; ascribable, as to a cause.
The dangerously low water table is due to rapidly growing pumping.
- 6
On a direct bearing, especially for the four points of the compass.
The town is 5 miles due North of the bridge.
adverb
- 1
Directly; exactly.
The river runs due north for about a mile.
noun
- 1
Deserved acknowledgment.
Give him his due – he is a good actor.
- 2
A membership fee.
- 3
That which is owed; debt; that which belongs or may be claimed as a right; whatever custom, law, or morality requires to be done, duty.
- 4
Right; just title or claim.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Due in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dû , plein |
| German | fällig |
| Portuguese | devido , exatamente , quota, cota |
| Spanish | debido , que es para, que está para , que sale de cuenta (s), que tiene fecha para, fuera de cuenta (s) |
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 due come from?
From Middle English dewe, dew, due, from Old French deü (“due”), past participle of devoir (“to owe”), from Latin dēbēre (“to owe”), from dē- (“from”) + habeō (“to have”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).