extern
/ˈɛkˌstɜː(ɹ)n/noun
extern is spelled E-X-T-E-R-N: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 101,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, extern means “A person affiliated with an institution in a lesser capacity, for example, as a non-resident or as a part-time affiliate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of extern is externs.
How many letters and syllables are in extern?
| Letters | 6: E-X-T-E-R-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 11 million words; the 101,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is extern?
Extern appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 101,613th 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 extern?
- /ˈɛkˌstɜː(ɹ)n/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Yangolin-extern.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of extern
- externs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does extern mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person affiliated with an institution in a lesser capacity, for example, as a non-resident or as a part-time affiliate.
- 2
A day-scholar.
- 3
Outward form or part; exterior.
- 4
In the C and C++ programming languages, a variable that can be separately declared in many places, all of them referring to the same variable.
adjective
- 1
obsoleterareExternal; outward; not inherent
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does extern come from?
From Middle French externe or its etymon Latin externus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).