IBM
/ˌʌɪbiːˈɛm/noun
IBM is spelled I-B-M: 3 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, IBM means “Initialism of intercontinental ballistic missile” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of IBM is IBMs.
How many letters and syllables are in IBM?
| Letters | 3: I-B-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.5 times per million words; the 7,910th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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).
How common is IBM?
IBM appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th 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 IBM?
- /ˌʌɪbiːˈɛm/
IBM has 3 syllables (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-ca-IBM.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of IBM
- IBMs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does IBM mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Initialism of intercontinental ballistic missile.
- 2
Initialism of inclusion body myositis.
- 3
A company that dominates its field.
Univac was the IBM of the computer industry's incipiency; in 1952 Univac had virtually 100% of the market.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).