inn
/ɪn/noun
inn is spelled I-N-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “in vs inn” about 30 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, inn means “Any establishment where travellers can procure lodging, food, and drink” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of inn is inns.
How many letters and syllables are in inn?
| Letters | 3: I-N-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,347th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
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 inn?
Inn appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th 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 inn?
- /ɪn/
Inn 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-inn.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with inn
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: in (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with inn?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as inn.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: nin.
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 inn
- inns plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- inning participle, present
- inned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does inn mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any establishment where travellers can procure lodging, food, and drink.
- 2
A tavern.
- 3
One of the colleges (societies or buildings) in London, for students of the law barristers.
the Inns of Court the Inns of Chancery Serjeants’ Inns
- 4
UKdatedThe town residence of a nobleman or distinguished person.
Leicester Inn
- 5
obsoleteA place of shelter; hence, dwelling, residence, abode.
noun
- 1
Initialism of international nonproprietary name.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo take lodging; to lodge or house oneself.
We inned at the signe of the Swan.
- 2
obsoleteTo lodge or house (someone or something).
These Inn'd themselves all Night in Knights-bridge Fields.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Inn in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense lodging:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | auberge |
| German | Herberge |
| Portuguese | albergue, pousada, estalagem |
| Spanish | posada, venta, fonda, mesón, hostería, fondac |
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 inn come from?
From Middle English in, inn, from Old English inn (“a dwelling, house, chamber, lodging”); akin to Icelandic inni (“a dwelling place, home, abode”), Faroese inni (“home”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).