hive
/haɪv/noun, verb
hive is spelled H-I-V-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hive means “A structure, whether artificial or natural, for housing a swarm of honeybees” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hive is hives.
How many letters and syllables are in hive?
| Letters | 4: H-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,928th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hive?
Hive appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th 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 hive?
- US /haɪv/
Hive 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-hive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with hive?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hive from its last stressed vowel (/aɪv/):
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 hive
- hives plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- hiving participle, present
- hived participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A structure, whether artificial or natural, for housing a swarm of honeybees.
- 2
The bees of one hive; a swarm of bees.
- 3
A place swarming with busy occupants; a crowd.
- 4
A section of the registry.
- 5
An itchy, red, swollen area of the skin; singular or attributive form of hives.
verb
- 1
To collect (bees) into a hive.
to hive a swarm of bees
- 2
To store (something other than bees) in, or as if in, a hive.
- 3
To form a hive-like entity.
- 4
To take lodging or shelter together; to reside in a collective body.
- 5
Of insects: to enter or possess a hive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense bees of one hive:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | enjambre |
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 hive come from?
From Middle English hyve, from Old English hȳf, from Proto-West Germanic *hūfi, from Proto-Indo-European *kuHp- (“water vessel”), from *kew- (“to bend, curve”). See also Dutch huif (“beehive”), Danish dialect huv (“ship’s hull”); also Latin cūpa (“tub, vat”), Ancient Greek κύπη (kúpē, “gap, hole”), κύπελλον (kúpellon, “beaker”), Sanskrit कूप (kū́pa, “cave”). Doublet of coupe, cup, and keeve. The computing term was chosen as an in-joke relating to bees; see this for more.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).