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PlainSpell

enter

en·ter/ˈɛntɚ/verb, noun

enter is spelled E-N-T-E-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables (en·ter). It appears 65 times per million words in written English, the 1,636th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, enter means “To go or come into an enclosed or partially enclosed space” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in enter?

Letters5: E-N-T-E-R
Syllables2: en·ter
In writing65 times per million words; the 1,636th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is enter?

Enter appears 65 times per million words in written English, the 1,636th 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 enter?

  • UK /ˈɛntə(ɹ)/
  • US /ˈɛntɚ/
  • US [ˈɛɾ̃ɚ]

Enter has 2 syllables, split en·ter in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-to_enter.ogg, En-us-enter.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Grendelkhan-enter.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with enter?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as enter from its last stressed vowel (/ɛntəɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: treen, terne.

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 enter

  • enters present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • entering participle, present
  • entered participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

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

What does enter mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To go or come into an enclosed or partially enclosed space.

    You should knock before you enter, unless you want to see me naked.

  2. 2

    To cause to go (into), or to be received (into); to put in; to insert; to cause to be admitted.

    to enter a knife into a piece of wood

  3. 3

    To go or come into (a state or profession).

    My twelve-year-old son will be entering his teens next year.

  4. 4

    To type (something) into a computer; to input.

    Enter your user name and password.

  5. 5

    To record (something) in an account, ledger, etc.

  6. 6

    Used as a stage direction, usually preceding the name of the character who appears.

  7. 7

    Used in the manner of a stage direction: to enter the picture, to become relevant.

  8. 8

    To become a party to an agreement, treaty, etc.

noun

  1. 1

    The action of entering; an instance of entering.

  2. 2

    Alternative spelling of Enter (“the computer key”).

  3. 3

    Alternative spelling of Enter (“a stroke of the computer key”).

noun

as Enter
  1. 1

    The "Enter" key on a computer keyboard.

  2. 2

    A stroke of the Enter key.

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

How do you abbreviate enter?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of enter: VES.

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

Enter in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchentrer (to go into (a room, etc.)), taper, saisir (to type into a computer)
Germanreingehen, hineingehen, hereingehen, eintreten, betreten, reinkommen (to go into (a room, etc.))
Portugueseentrar (to go into (a room, etc.)), introduzir, inserir (to type into a computer)
Spanishentrar, ingresar, adentrarse (to go into (a room, etc.)), adentrar (to insert), intro (key)

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 enter come from?

From Middle English entren, from Old French entrer, from Latin intrō (“enter”, verb), from intrā (“inside”). Has been spelled as "enter" for several centuries even in the United Kingdom, although British English and the English of many Commonwealth Countries (e.g. Australia, Canada) retain the "re" ending for many words such as centre, fibre, spectre, theatre, calibre, sombre, lustre, and litre.

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

What to look up after enter