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PlainSpell

graft

/ɡɹæft/noun, verb

graft is spelled G-R-A-F-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “graft vs grift” about 480 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, graft means “A small shoot or scion of a tree inserted in another tree, the stock of which is to support and nourish it. The two unite and become one tree, but…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of graft is grafts.

How many letters and syllables are in graft?

Letters5: G-R-A-F-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is graft?

Graft appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th 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 graft?

  • UK /ɡɹɑːft/
  • US /ɡɹæft/

Graft 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-au-graft.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with graft

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

graft vs grift480 G

Also written: graff.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with graft?

7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as graft from its last stressed vowel (/æft/):

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 graft

  • grafts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • grafting participle, present
  • grafted participle, past

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

What does graft mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A small shoot or scion of a tree inserted in another tree, the stock of which is to support and nourish it. The two unite and become one tree, but the graft determines the kind of fruit.

  2. 2

    A branch or portion of a tree growing from such a shoot.

  3. 3

    A portion of living tissue used in the operation of autoplasty.

  4. 4

    obsoleteA ditch, a canal.

  5. 5

    The depth of the blade of a digging tool such as a spade or shovel.

  6. 6

    A narrow spade used in digging drainage trenches.

  7. 7

    Corruption in official life.

  8. 8

    Illicit profit by corrupt means, especially in public life.

  9. 9

    slangA criminal’s special branch of practice.

  10. 10

    A con job.

  11. 11

    slangA cut of the take (money).

  12. 12

    USA bribe, especially on an ongoing basis.

  13. 13

    UKcolloquialWork; labor requiring effort.

    We had to put in a lot of hard graft to get the job done.

  14. 14

    UKcolloquialA job or trade.

verb

  1. 1

    To insert (a graft) in a branch or stem of another tree; to propagate by insertion in another stock; also, to insert a graft upon.

  2. 2

    To insert scions (grafts) from one tree, or kind of tree, etc., into another; to practice grafting.

  3. 3

    To implant a portion of (living flesh or akin) in a lesion so as to form an organic union.

  4. 4

    To join (one thing) to another as if by grafting, so as to bring about a close union.

  5. 5

    To cover, as a ring bolt, block strap, splicing, etc., with a weaving of small cord or rope yarns.

  6. 6

    To form a graft polymer

  7. 7

    colloquialTo work hard.

  8. 8

    To obtain illegal gain from bribery or similar corrupt practices.

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

Graft in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchgreffon, greffe (small shoot or scion), greffer, enter (to insert a graft in another tree), corruption (corruption in official life), pot-de-vin (bribe)
GermanPfropfreis (small shoot or scion), pfropfen (to insert a graft in another tree), Transplantat (portion of living tissue used in the operation…), transplantieren (to implant to form an organic union)
Portugueseenxerto (small shoot or scion), enxertar (to insert a graft in another tree), suborno (bribe), golpe (con job)
Spanishinjerto, empeltre, enjerto (small shoot or scion), injertar, enjertar, injerir (to insert a graft in another tree)

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 graft come from?

From Middle English graffe, from Old French greffe (“stylus”), from Latin graphium (“stylus”), from Ancient Greek γραφείον (grapheíon), from γράφειν (gráphein, “to write”); probably akin to English carve. So named from the resemblance of a scion or shoot to a pointed pencil. Doublet of graphium. Compare graphic, grammar.

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

What to look up after graft