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PlainSpell

keyboard

/ˈki.bɔɹd/noun, verb

keyboard is spelled K-E-Y-B-O-A-R-D: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, keyboard means “A set of keys laid out in a gridlike pattern, used for typing on a typewriter, computer, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of keyboard is keyboards.

How many letters and syllables are in keyboard?

Letters8: K-E-Y-B-O-A-R-D
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing13 times per million words; the 5,957th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 keyboard?

Keyboard appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th 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 keyboard?

  • US /ˈki.bɔɹd/
  • UK /ˈkiːbɔːd/
  • British /ˈkɪjboːd/

Keyboard 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-keyboard.ogg, En-ca-keyboard.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of keyboard

  • keyboards plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • keyboarding participle, present
  • keyboarded participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does keyboard mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A set of keys laid out in a gridlike pattern, used for typing on a typewriter, computer, etc.

  2. 2

    A component of many instruments, including the piano, organ, and harpsichord, consisting of usually black and white keys that cause different tones to be produced when struck.

  3. 3

    An electronic device containing a keyboard (preceding sense), especially one that is capable of producing musical sounds when the keys are played.

verb

  1. 1

    To type on a computer keyboard.

    Keyboarding is the part of this job I hate the most.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate keyboard?

Wiktionary records 4 abbreviations of keyboard: kb, kbd, keeb, mks.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Keyboard in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchclavier (set of keys used to operate a typewriter…), clavier électronique (electronic device with keys of a musical…)
GermanTastatur (set of keys used to operate a typewriter…), Keyboard (electronic device with keys of a musical…), Klaviatur, Manual (component of many instruments)
Portugueseteclado (set of keys used to operate a typewriter…), teclar (to type in)
Spanishteclado (set of keys used to operate a typewriter…), teclear (to type in)

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 keyboard come from?

From key + board.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after keyboard