exchange
/ɛksˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/noun, verb
exchange is spelled E-X-C-H-A-N-G-E. The wrong spelling people search most is exhange: about 180 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 118 of all searches for the word. Exchange is a noun meaning “An act of exchanging or trading”. The plural of exchange is exchanges.
How many letters and syllables are in exchange?
| Letters | 8: E-X-C-H-A-N-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 71 times per million words; the 1,486th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, exhange, about 180 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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 do you spell exchange?
Exchange is spelled E-X-C-H-A-N-G-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 101 of the searches for exchange 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 exchange?
Exchange appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th 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 exchange?
- /ɛksˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/
- [ɛkˈst͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ]
- /ɪksˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/
Exchange 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-exchange.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of exchange
- exchanges plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- exchanging participle, present
- exchanged 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 exchange mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An act of exchanging or trading.
All in all, it was an even exchange.
- 2
A place for conducting trading.
The stock exchange is open for trading.
- 3
A central office.
- 4
The portion of a telephone number that represents (or formerly represented) a central office.
The 555 exchange is reserved for use by the phone company, which is why it's often used in films.
- 5
A conversation.
After a lengthy exchange with the manager, we were no wiser.
- 6
The loss of one piece and associated capture of another.
- 7
The loss of a minor piece (typically a bishop or knight) and associated capture of the more advantageous rook.
- 8
obsoleteThe thing given or received in return; especially, a publication exchanged for another.
verb
- 1
To trade or barter.
I'll gladly exchange my place for yours.
- 2
To mutually direct at each other.
The opposing soldiers exchanged fire across the burning streets.
- 3
To replace with, as a substitute.
I'd like to exchange this shirt for one in a larger size.
- 4
Clipping of exchange contracts.
- 5
To recommend and get recommendations.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate exchange?
Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of exchange: Exch., exch, exch..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Exchange in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | échange, troc , bourse , échanger, troquer |
| German | Austausch, Tausch , Börse , tauschen , umtauschen |
| Portuguese | troca , bolsa, casa de câmbio , negociar, cambiar , trocar |
| Spanish | intercambio , bolsa , cambiar, intercambiar, canjear, conmutar |
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 exchange come from?
From Middle English eschaunge, borrowed from Anglo-Norman eschaunge, from Old French eschange (whence modern French échange), from the verb eschanger, from Vulgar Latin *excambiāre (from Latin ex with Late Latin cambiō). Spelling later changed on the basis of ex-, with pronunciation following. By surface analysis, ex- + change.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).