income
/ˈɪnˌkʌm/noun
income is spelled I-N-C-O-M-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 93 times per million words in written English, the 1,144th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, income means “Money one earns by working or by capitalising on the work of others” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of income is incomes.
How many letters and syllables are in income?
| Letters | 6: I-N-C-O-M-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 93 times per million words; the 1,144th 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 income?
Income appears 93 times per million words in written English, the 1,144th 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 income?
- /ˈɪnˌkʌm/
Income has 2 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-us-income.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of income
- incomes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does income mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Money one earns by working or by capitalising on the work of others.
- 2
Money coming in to a fund, account, or policy.
- 3
obsoleteA coming in; arrival; entrance; introduction.
- 4
ScotlandarchaicA newcomer or arrival; an incomer.
- 5
obsoleteAn entrance-fee.
- 6
archaicA coming in as by influx or inspiration, hence, an inspired quality or characteristic, as courage or zeal; an inflowing principle.
- 7
ScotlandUKA disease or ailment without known or apparent cause, as distinguished from one induced by accident or contagion; an oncome.
- 8
That which is taken into the body as food; the ingesta; sometimes restricted to the nutritive, or digestible, portion of the food.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Income in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense money one earns by working or by capitalising on the work of others:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | revenu, recette |
| German | Einkommen |
| Portuguese | renda, rendimento |
| Spanish | ingreso, renta, ingresos |
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 income come from?
From Middle English income, perhaps continuing (in altered form) Old English incyme (“an in-coming, entrance”), equivalent to in- + come. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Íenkúumen (“income”), West Frisian ynkommen (“income”), Dutch inkomen, inkomst (“income, earnings, gainings”), German Low German Inkumst (“income”), German Einkommen, Einkunft (“income, earnings, competence”), Danish indkomst (“income”), Swedish inkomst (“income”), Icelandic innkváma (“income”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).