dwelling
/ˈdwɛl.ɪŋ/noun, verb
dwelling is spelled D-W-E-L-L-I-N-G: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.5 times per million words in written English, the 10,519th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dwelling means “A house or place in which a person lives; a habitation, a home” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dwelling is dwellings.
How many letters and syllables are in dwelling?
| Letters | 8: D-W-E-L-L-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.5 times per million words; the 10,519th 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 dwelling?
Dwelling appears 5.5 times per million words in written English, the 10,519th 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 dwelling?
- /ˈdwɛl.ɪŋ/
Dwelling 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: En-us-dwelling.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dwelling
- dwellings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dwelling mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A house or place in which a person lives; a habitation, a home.
The old house served as a dwelling for Albert.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of dwell
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dwelling in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense house or place in which a person lives:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | domicile, habitation |
| German | Wohnsitz, Wohnung, Behausung, Wohnstätte |
| Portuguese | domicílio, moradia |
| Spanish | morada |
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 dwelling come from?
From Middle English dwellynge, dwellyng (“delay, continuance, abode”), equivalent to dwell + -ing. More at dwell.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).