install
in·stall/ɪnˈstɔl/verb, noun
install is spelled I-N-S-T-A-L-L, 2 syllables: in·stall. The wrong spelling people search most is insall: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 270 of all searches for the word. Install is a verb meaning “To connect, set up or prepare something for use”.
How many letters and syllables are in install?
| Letters | 7: I-N-S-T-A-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: in·stall |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, insall, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 do you spell install?
Install is spelled I-N-S-T-A-L-L. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 271 of the searches for install in either form.
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). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is install?
Install appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th 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 install?
- UK /ɪnˈstɔːl/
- British /ɪnˈstoːl/
- US /ɪnˈstɔl/
Install has 2 syllables, split in·stall in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-install.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with install?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as install from its last stressed vowel (/ɔl/):
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 install
- installs present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- installing participle, present
- installed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does install mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To connect, set up or prepare something for use
- 2
To transfer software onto a device's permanent storage and put it in a state where it is ready to be run when needed, usually decompressing it if necessary and performing any necessary pre-first-run configuration.
I haven't installed the new operating system yet because of all the bugs.
- 3
To admit formally into an office, rank or position.
He was installed as Chancellor of the University.
- 4
To establish or settle in.
I installed myself in my usual chair by the fire.
noun
- 1
informalAn installation: the process of installing a software application.
The install takes a long time, but you can run it in the background while working on other things.
- 2
informalAn installation: a software application that has been installed.
I've customized my local install; the out-of-the-box version looks a bit different.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Install in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense set something up for use:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | installer |
| German | installieren |
| Portuguese | instalar |
| Spanish | instalar |
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 install come from?
From Middle English installen, from Old French installer, from Medieval Latin īnstallō (“to install, put in place, establish”), from in- + stallum (“stall”), from Frankish *stall (“stall, position, place”), from Proto-Germanic *stallaz (“place, position”), from Proto-Indo-European *stel-, *stAlǝn-, *stAlǝm- (“stem, trunk”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).