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PlainSpell

function

func·tionUK /ˈfʌŋ(k)ʃən/noun, verb

function is spelled F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N, 2 syllables: func·tion. The wrong spelling people search most is funtion: about 90 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 55 of all searches for the word. Function is a noun meaning “What something does or is used for”. The plural of function is functions.

How many letters and syllables are in function?

Letters8: F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N
Syllables2: func·tion
In writing60 times per million words; the 1,724th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched3; the most searched, funtion, about 90 Bing searches a month (all of them)

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 do you spell function?

Function is spelled F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N. 3 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 31 of the searches for function in either form.

functionthe right spelling4,820 searches a month
funtiona missing c90 searches a month
fuctiona missing n60 searches a month
fucntionn and c swapped10 searches a month

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 function?

Function appears 60 times per million words in written English, the 1,724th 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 function?

  • UK /ˈfʌŋ(k)ʃən/
  • UK /ˈfʌŋkʃn̩/
  • /ˈfʊŋ(k)ʃən/

Function has 2 syllables, split func·tion in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-function.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of function

  • functions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • functioning participle, present
  • functioned participle, past

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

What does function mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    What something does or is used for.

  2. 2

    A professional or official position.

  3. 3

    An official or social occasion.

    Our hotel is hosting a function for all the warehouse workers on the night of April 18.

  4. 4

    slangA party.

  5. 5

    Something which is dependent on or stems from another thing; a result or concomitant.

  6. 6

    A relation where one thing is dependent on another for its existence, value, or significance.

  7. 7

    A relation in which each element of the domain is associated with exactly one element of the codomain.

  8. 8

    A routine that receives zero or more arguments and may return a result.

verb

  1. 1

    To have a function.

  2. 2

    To carry out a function; to be in action.

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

How do you abbreviate function?

Wiktionary records 6 abbreviations of function: F, Fx, fn, fnc, func, funct.

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

Function in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfonction (what something does or is used for), en fonction de (relation where one thing is dependent on another), fonctionner, marcher (to carry on a function)
GermanFunktion, Funktionalität (what something does or is used for), funktionieren (to carry on a function), Aufgabe (professional or official position), Feier (official or social occasion), fungieren (to have a function)
Portuguesefunção (what something does or is used for), funcionar (to have a function)
Spanishfunción (what something does or is used for), funcionar, funcar (to carry on a function), cargo (professional or official position), fungir (to have a function)

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 function come from?

From Middle French function, from Old French fonction, from Latin functiō (“performance, execution”), from functus, perfect participle of fungor (“to perform, execute, discharge”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg- (“to enjoy”).

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

What to look up after function