foreword
fore·word/ˈfɔɹwɝd/noun
foreword is spelled F-O-R-E-W-O-R-D: 8 letters and 2 syllables (fore·word). It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,463rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “foreword vs forward” about 880 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, foreword means “An introductory section preceding the main text of a book or other document; especially, one written by another person (not the author of the work…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of foreword is forewords.
How many letters and syllables are in foreword?
| Letters | 8: F-O-R-E-W-O-R-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: fore·word |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,463rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people 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); 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 common is foreword?
Foreword appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,463rd 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 foreword?
- UK /ˈfɔːwɜːd/
- US /ˈfɔɹwɝd/
- US /ˈfɔɹwɚd/
Foreword has 2 syllables, split fore·word in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-foreword.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with foreword
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 foreword
- forewords plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does foreword mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An introductory section preceding the main text of a book or other document; especially, one written by another person (not the author of the work thus introduced).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Foreword in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense an introductory section:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | avant-propos |
| German | Vorwort, Vorrede |
| Portuguese | prefácio |
| Spanish | prefacio |
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 foreword come from?
Morphologically fore- + word. Calque of German Vorwort, itself a calque of Latin praefatio (“preface”). Cognate with German Low German Vörwoord (“foreword”), Dutch voorwoord (“foreword”), West Frisian foarwurd (“foreword”), Danish forord (“preface; proviso”), Swedish förord (“foreword”). Compare also Old English forword, foreword (“proviso; condition”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).