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PlainSpell

fin

/fɪn/noun, verb

fin is spelled F-I-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.0 times per million words in written English, the 11,198th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fin means “One of the appendages of a fish, used to propel itself and to manoeuvre/maneuver” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fin is fins.

How many letters and syllables are in fin?

Letters3: F-I-N
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing5.0 times per million words; the 11,198th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like

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).

How common is fin?

Fin appears 5.0 times per million words in written English, the 11,198th 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 fin?

  • /fɪn/
  • /fən/

Fin has one syllable (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-fin.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with fin

Sounds like: Finn (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of fin

  • fins plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • finning participle, present
  • finned participle, past

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

What does fin mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    One of the appendages of a fish, used to propel itself and to manoeuvre/maneuver.

    The fish's fins minimize water flow.

  2. 2

    A similar appendage of a cetacean or other marine animal.

    a dolphin's fin

  3. 3

    A thin, rigid component of an aircraft, extending from the fuselage and used to stabilise and steer the aircraft.

    The fin stabilises the plane in flight.

  4. 4

    A similar structure protruding from a projectile, used to help keep it on course.

  5. 5

    A similar structure on the bottom of a surfboard, used to help steer it.

  6. 6

    A hairstyle, resembling the fin of a fish, in which the hair is combed and set into a vertical ridge along the top of the head from about the crown to the forehead.

  7. 7

    A device worn by divers and swimmers on their feet.

    The divers wore fins to swim faster.

  8. 8

    An extending part on a surface of a radiator, engine, heatsink, etc., used to facilitate cooling.

  9. 9

    UKslanga five-pound (£5) note; the sum of five pounds.

  10. 10

    USdatedslangA five-dollar bill; the sum of five dollars.

  11. 11

    informalfinasteride

  12. 12

    archaic"The end".

  13. 13

    obsoleteDenotes the end of the road.

verb

  1. 1

    To cut the fins from a fish, shark, etc.

  2. 2

    (Of a fish) to swim with the dorsal fin above the surface of the water.

  3. 3

    To swim in the manner of a fish.

    A neutrally buoyant diver does not need to fin to maintain depth.

  4. 4

    To provide (a motor vehicle etc) with fins.

noun

as FIN
  1. 1

    USInitialism of facility ID number.

  2. 2

    UKInitialism of force identification number.

  3. 3

    Initialism of feminine in nature

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

Fin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchnageoire, aileron (appendage of a fish), empennage (aircraft component), palme (device used by divers)
GermanFlosse (appendage of a fish), Leitwerk, Höhenleitwerk, Seitenleitwerk (aircraft component), Finne, Fluke f Flosse (appendage of a cetacean or other marine animal)
Portuguesenadadeira, barbatana (appendage of a fish), estabilizador, aleta (aircraft component)
Spanishaleta (appendage of a fish)

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 fin come from?

From Middle English fin, from Old English finn, from Proto-Germanic *finnō, *finǭ (“dorsal fin”) (compare Dutch vin, German Finne, Swedish finne, fena), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pīn- (“backbone, dorsal fin”) (compare Old Irish ind (“end, point”), Latin pinna (“feather, wing, fin”), Tocharian A spin (“hook”).

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

What to look up after fin