girl
/ˈɡɜːl/noun, verb
girl is spelled G-I-R-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 240 times per million words in written English, the 417th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “girl vs gurl” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, girl means “A female child” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of girl is girls.
How many letters and syllables are in girl?
| Letters | 4: G-I-R-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 240 times per million words; the 417th 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 and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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 girl?
Girl appears 240 times per million words in written English, the 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 girl?
- UK /ˈɡɜːl/
- UK /ˈɡɛəl/
- UK /ˈɡɪəl/
Girl 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-girl.wav, En-us-girl.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with girl
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: gurl.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of girl
- girls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- gal
- guhl
- gel UK
- gorl
- gril
- grrrl
- grrl
- gworl
- gyal
- girling participle, present
- girled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does girl mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A female child.
I saw a little girl feeding, brushing, and talking to a heifer.
- 2
offensiveA woman, especially a young and often attractive woman.
He has a crush on a girl at work. We were kidding with him yesterday about his work crush.
- 3
colloquialA term of address to a female (see usage notes)
Hey, girl, I haven't seen you since last week! Where you been?
- 4
colloquialOne's girlfriend.
He lucked out with that girl of his. Smart, sweet, sassy, and pretty too.
- 5
colloquialOne's daughter.
Your girl turned up on our doorstep. She was crying about the argument on the playground. We let her vent.
- 6
A female friend.
- 7
A female non-human animal, especially, in affectionate address, a female pet, especially a dog.
Hey, Tricksy, come here, girl! Do you want a treat? Yes, you love those biscuits, don't you! What a good girl! Here's another!
- 8
A female (tree, gene, etc).
Are you getting a boy cat or a girl cat?
verb
- 1
To feminize or girlify; to gender as a girl or as for girls.
- 2
informalTo staff with or as a girl or girls.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate girl?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of girl: YGG.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Girl in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fille, jeune fille, fillette , femme , servante |
| German | Mädchen, Mädel, Goof, Maidle, Maitli, Meitle |
| Portuguese | garota, menina, moça, rapariga , mulher , criada |
| Spanish | niña, muchacha, chica, cabra, chamaca, lola |
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 girl come from?
From Middle English gerle, girle, gyrle (“young person (boy or girl)”), perhaps from Old English *gyrele, from Proto-West Germanic *gurilā, from a zero-grade diminutive of *gaurā (“young child”) + *-ilā. Ultimately of unknown origin. Doublet of gal/gyal and gyaru.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).