fist
/fɪst/noun, verb
fist is spelled F-I-S-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fist means “A hand with the fingers clenched or curled inward” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fist is fists.
How many letters and syllables are in fist?
| Letters | 4: F-I-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.8 times per million words; the 8,417th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is fist?
Fist appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th 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 fist?
- /fɪst/
Fist 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-fist.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with fist?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as fist.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sift.
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 fist
- fists plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- fisting participle, present
- fisted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fist mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A hand with the fingers clenched or curled inward.
The boxer's fists rained down on his opponent in the last round.
- 2
Synonym of manicule.
- 3
The characteristic signaling rhythm of an individual telegraph or CW operator when sending Morse code.
- 4
slangA person's characteristic handwriting.
- 5
A group of men.
- 6
The talons of a bird of prey.
- 7
informalAn attempt at something.
- 8
The act of breaking wind; fise.
- 9
A puffball.
verb
- 1
To strike with the fist.
...may not score a point with his open hand(s), but may score a point by fisting the ball.
- 2
To close (the hand) into a fist.
- 3
To grip with a fist.
- 4
slangTo fist-fuck.
- 5
To stomp, to utterly defeat
- 6
To break wind.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fist in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | poing , manicule |
| German | Faust |
| Portuguese | punho , pulso |
| Spanish | puño , manecilla, manícula , apuñalar |
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 fist come from?
From Middle English fist, from Old English fȳst (“fist”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūsti (“fist”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“to punch; to prick, stab”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).