kiss
/kɪs/verb, noun
kiss is spelled K-I-S-S: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 38 times per million words in written English, the 2,581st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, kiss means “To touch with the lips or press the lips against, usually to show love or affection or passion, or as part of a greeting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in kiss?
| Letters | 4: K-I-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 38 times per million words; the 2,581st 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 kiss?
Kiss appears 38 times per million words in written English, the 2,581st 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 kiss?
- /kɪs/
- [kʰɪs]
Kiss 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-kiss.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of kiss
- kisses present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- kissing participle, present
- kissed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does kiss mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To touch with the lips or press the lips against, usually to show love or affection or passion, or as part of a greeting.
- 2
To (cause to) touch lightly or slightly; to come into contact.
The nearside of the car just kissed a parked truck as he took the corner at high speed.
- 3
Of two or more people, to touch each other's lips together, usually to express love or affection or passion.
- 4
archaicTo treat with fondness.
noun
- 1
A touch with the lips, usually to express love or affection, or as a greeting.
- 2
An 'X' mark placed at the end of a letter or other type of message, signifying the bestowal of a kiss from the sender to the receiver.
- 3
A type of filled chocolate candy, shaped as if someone had kissed the top. See Hershey's Kisses.
- 4
The alignment of two bodies in the solar system such that they have the same longitude when seen from Earth; conjunction.
- 5
A low-speed mid-air collision between the envelopes of two hot air balloons, generally causing no damage or injury.
phrase
- 1
Acronym of keep it simple, stupid.
KISS when you're writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Kiss in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | embrasser, baiser , effleurer , s'embrasser , bisou, bécot |
| German | küssen, knutschen, schmusen, verschmutza , sich küssen , Kuss |
| Portuguese | beijar , raspar , beijar-se , beijo |
| Spanish | besar , besarse , beso, ósculo |
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 kiss come from?
From Middle English kissen, kussen, from Old English cyssan (“to kiss”), from Proto-West Germanic *kussijan, from Proto-Germanic *kussijaną (“to kiss”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).