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PlainSpell

enterprise

en·ter·prise/ˈɛntɚˌpɹaɪz/noun, verb

enterprise is spelled E-N-T-E-R-P-R-I-S-E, 3 syllables: en·ter·prise. The wrong spelling people search most is emterprise: about 260 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 1,000 of all searches for the word. Enterprise is a noun meaning “A company, business, organization, or other purposeful endeavor”. The plural of enterprise is enterprises.

How many letters and syllables are in enterprise?

Letters10: E-N-T-E-R-P-R-I-S-E
Syllables3: en·ter·prise
In writing24 times per million words; the 3,752nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, emterprise, about 260 Bing searches a month (all of them)

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); 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 enterprise?

Enterprise is spelled E-N-T-E-R-P-R-I-S-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 989 of the searches for enterprise in either form.

enterprisethe right spelling256,800 searches a month
emterprisem in place of n260 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 enterprise?

Enterprise appears 24 times per million words in written English, the 3,752nd 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 enterprise?

  • UK /ˈɛntəˌpɹaɪz/
  • US /ˈɛntɚˌpɹaɪz/
  • Australia /ˈen.təˌpɹɑez/

Enterprise has 3 syllables, split en·ter·prise in writing.

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

Forms of enterprise

  • enterprises plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • enterprising participle, present
  • enterprised participle, past

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

What does enterprise mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A company, business, organization, or other purposeful endeavor.

    The government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are a group of financial services corporations which have been created by the United States Congress.

  2. 2

    An undertaking, venture, or project, especially a daring and courageous one.

    Biosphere 2 was a scientific enterprise aimed at the exploration of the complex web of interactions within life systems.

  3. 3

    A willingness to undertake new or risky projects; energy and initiative.

    He has shown great enterprise throughout his early career.

  4. 4

    Active participation in projects.

verb

  1. 1

    To undertake an enterprise, or something hazardous or difficult.

  2. 2

    To undertake; to begin and attempt to perform; to venture upon.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo put up or house; to entertain.

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

How do you abbreviate enterprise?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of enterprise: Enter..

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

Enterprise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchentreprise (company, business, organization, or endeavor), venture (undertaking, especially a daring and courageous…), initiative (willingness to undertake projects, energy and…)
GermanUnternehmen (company, business, organization, or endeavor), Unterfangen, Vorhaben (undertaking, especially a daring and courageous…), Unternehmungsgeist, Unternehmungslust (willingness to undertake projects, energy and…)
Portugueseempresa (company, business, organization, or endeavor), empreendimento, empreitada (undertaking, especially a daring and courageous…), iniciativa (willingness to undertake projects, energy and…)
Spanishempresa, destajo (company, business, organization, or endeavor), emprendimiento (undertaking, especially a daring and courageous…), empuje (willingness to undertake projects, energy and…)

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 enterprise come from?

From Old French via Middle English and Middle French entreprise, feminine past participle of entreprendre (“to undertake”), from entre (“in between”) + prendre (“to take”), from Latin inter + prehendō, see prehensile.

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

What to look up after enterprise