hone
/hoʊn/noun, verb, interjection
hone is spelled H-O-N-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hone means “A sharpening stone composed of extra-fine grit used for removing the burr or curl from the blade of a razor or some other edge tool” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hone is hones.
How many letters and syllables are in hone?
| Letters | 4: H-O-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 23,253rd 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 hone?
Hone appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd 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 hone?
- US /hoʊn/
- UK /həʊn/
Hone 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-us-hone.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with hone?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hone from its last stressed vowel (/oʊn/):
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 hone
- hones plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- honing participle, present
- honed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hone mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sharpening stone composed of extra-fine grit used for removing the burr or curl from the blade of a razor or some other edge tool.
- 2
A machine tool used in the manufacture of precision bores.
- 3
A kind of swelling in the cheek.
verb
- 1
To sharpen with a hone; to whet.
- 2
To use a hone to produce a precision bore.
- 3
To refine (a skill especially) by learning.
- 4
To make more acute, intense, or effective.
- 5
UKUSTo grumble.
Such tunges ſhuld be torne out by the harde rootes,
- 6
UKUSTo pine, lament, or long.
interjection
- 1
Synonym of alas Used to express sorrow, or grief
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hone in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pierre à aiguiser , machine à roder , aiguiser, affûter , perfectionner, affiner |
| German | Schleifstein, Wetzstein , honen, feinschleifen, ziehschleifen , ausfeilen |
| Portuguese | mó, afiadeira , amolar, afiar , esmerar, aperfeiçoar |
| Spanish | asperón, afiladera, aguzadera, aguzadora, amoladera, muela |
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 hone come from?
From Middle English hon (“whetstone”), from Old English hān, from Proto-Germanic *hainō (compare Dutch heen, Norwegian hein), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₃i- (“to sharpen”) (compare Ancient Greek κῶνος (kônos, “cone”), Persian سان (sân, “whetstone”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).