familiar
/fəˈmɪl.jəɹ/adjective, noun
familiar is spelled F-A-M-I-L-I-A-R. The wrong spelling people search most is familar: about 260 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 17 of all searches for the word. Familiar is an adjective meaning “Known to one, or generally known; commonplace”.
How many letters and syllables are in familiar?
| Letters | 8: F-A-M-I-L-I-A-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 41 times per million words; the 2,438th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, familar, about 260 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people search |
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 familiar?
Familiar is spelled F-A-M-I-L-I-A-R. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 13 of the searches for familiar 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 familiar?
Familiar appears 41 times per million words in written English, the 2,438th 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 familiar?
- UK /fəˈmɪl.i.ə/
- US /fəˈmɪl.jəɹ/
- US /fəˈmɪl.i.əɹ/
Familiar has 3 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-familiar.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with familiar
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of familiar
- more familiar comparative
- most familiar superlative
- familiars plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does familiar mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Known to one, or generally known; commonplace.
There’s a familiar face; that tune sounds familiar.
- 2
Acquainted.
I'm quite familiar with this system; she's not familiar with manual gears.
- 3
Intimate or friendly.
We are on familiar terms now; our neighbour is not familiar
- 4
Of or pertaining to a family; familial.
noun
- 1
An attendant spirit, often in animal or demon form.
The witch’s familiar was a black cat.
- 2
obsoleteA member of one's family or household.
- 3
A member of a pope's or bishop's household.
- 4
obsoleteA close friend.
- 5
The officer of the Inquisition who arrested suspected people.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Familiar in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | familier , esprit familier |
| German | bekannt |
| Portuguese | familiar , espírito familiar , conhecido , próximo |
| Spanish | familiar , espíritu familiar |
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 familiar come from?
From Middle English familiar, familier, from Latin familiāris (“pertaining to servants; pertaining to the household”). By surface analysis, family + -ar. Piecewise doublet of familial. Displaced native Old English hīwcūþ.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).