inning
/ˈɪnɪŋ/noun, verb
inning is spelled I-N-N-I-N-G: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, inning means “A period of play in which members of a visiting baseball team attempt to hit a baseball pitched by the opposing home team until three players are…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of inning is innings.
How many letters and syllables are in inning?
| Letters | 6: I-N-N-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th 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 inning?
Inning appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th 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 inning?
- /ˈɪnɪŋ/
Inning 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-inning.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of inning
- innings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does inning mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A period of play in which members of a visiting baseball team attempt to hit a baseball pitched by the opposing home team until three players are called out, followed by a similar attempt by members of the home baseball team against the visiting team's pitching. There are nine or more innings in a regulation baseball game.
It is a baseball tradition to sing "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch.
- 2
A similar period of play.
We batted around in our half of the inning.
- 3
A player (or team)'s turn at the table to make shots until ended by a miss or a foul.
- 4
A chance or opportunity to perform some deed or act.
We are in just the second inning of our quest to enter this new market.
- 5
obsoleteThe gathering of a crop; harvesting.
- 6
obsoleteLands recovered from the sea.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of inn
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Inning in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a period of play in baseball:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | manche |
| German | Innings, Spielrunde |
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 inning come from?
Back-formation from innings, mistaken to be plural of the time period, not the entries of the batters/batsmen.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).