modem
/ˈmoʊdəm/noun, verb
modem is spelled M-O-D-E-M. The wrong spelling people search most is moderm: about 50 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 115 of all searches for the word. Modem is a noun meaning “A device that encodes digital computer signals into analog telephone signals and vice versa, allowing…”. The plural of modem is modems.
How many letters and syllables are in modem?
| Letters | 5: M-O-D-E-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,122nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, moderm, about 50 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| 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 do you spell modem?
Modem is spelled M-O-D-E-M. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 115 of the searches for modem 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 modem?
Modem appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd 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 modem?
- UK /ˈməʊdəm/
- UK /ˈməʊdɛm/
- US /ˈmoʊdəm/
Modem 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-modem.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with modem?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as modem (/oʊdəm/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: domme.
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 modem
- modems plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- modeming participle, present
- modemming participle, present
- modemed participle, past
- modemmed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does modem mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A device that encodes digital computer signals into analog telephone signals and vice versa, allowing computers to communicate over a phone line.
verb
- 1
To transmit by modem.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Modem in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense device that encodes digital computer signals into analog/analogue telephone sign:
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 modem come from?
Clipping of modulator-demodulator.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).