example
ex·am·ple/ɪɡˈzæm.pəl/noun, verb
example is spelled E-X-A-M-P-L-E, 3 syllables: ex·am·ple. The wrong spelling people search most is exmaple: about 10 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 385 of all searches for the word. Example is a noun meaning “Something that is representative of all such things in a group”. The plural of example is examples.
How many letters and syllables are in example?
| Letters | 7: E-X-A-M-P-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ex·am·ple |
| In writing | 186 times per million words; the 546th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, exmaple, about 10 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell example?
Example is spelled E-X-A-M-P-L-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 387 of the searches for example 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 example?
Example appears 186 times per million words in written English, the 546th 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 example?
- UK /ɪɡˈzɑːm.pəl/
- /ɪɡˈzam.pəl/
- US /ɪɡˈzæm.pəl/
Example has 3 syllables, split ex·am·ple in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-example.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with example?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as example from its last stressed vowel (/æmpəl/):
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 example
- examples plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- ex.
- exampling participle, present
- exampled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does example mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Something that is representative of all such things in a group.
- 2
Something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule.
- 3
Something that serves as a pattern of behaviour to be imitated (a good example) or not to be imitated (a bad example).
Nelson Mandela was an example for many to follow.
- 4
A person punished as a warning to others.
- 5
A parallel or closely similar case, especially when serving as a precedent or model.
- 6
An instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate the rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of the rule.
verb
- 1
To be illustrated or exemplified (by).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate example?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of example: ex..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Example in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | exemple |
| German | Beispiel, Exempel , Vorbild |
| Portuguese | exemplo |
| Spanish | ejemplo , verbigracia |
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 example come from?
From Middle English example, exaumple, from Old French example, essaumple, from Latin exemplum (“sample, pattern, specimen, copy for imitation, etc.”, literally “what is taken out”); see exempt. Doublet of exemplum and sample. Displaced native Middle English forebisne, from Old English forebȳsn; and Middle English bisne, from Old English bȳsn (modern English bizen).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).