five
/ˈfaɪ̯v/number, noun
five is spelled F-I-V-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 282 times per million words in written English, the 338th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a number, five means “A numerical value equal to 5; the number following four and preceding six” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in five?
| Letters | 4: F-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 282 times per million words; the 338th 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 five?
Five appears 282 times per million words in written English, the 338th 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 five?
- /ˈfaɪ̯v/
- /ˈfaːv/
- /ˈfaj(ʋ)/
Five has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-five.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of five
- 5
- fives plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does five mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
number
- 1
A numerical value equal to 5; the number following four and preceding six.
- 2
Describing a group or set with five elements.
noun
- 1
The digit/figure 5.
He wrote a five followed by four zeroes.
- 2
A banknote with a denomination of five units of currency.
Can anyone here change a five?
- 3
Anything measuring five units, as length.
All the fives are over there in the corner, next to the fours.
- 4
A person who is five years old.
The fives and sixes will have a snack first, then the older kids.
- 5
Five o'clock.
See you at five.
- 6
A short rest, especially one of five minutes.
Take five, soldier.
- 7
A basketball team, club or lineup.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Five in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 five come from?
From Middle English fyf, fyve, from Old English fīf (“five”), from Proto-West Germanic *fimf (“five”), from Proto-Germanic *fimf (“five”), from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).