pare
/pɛɹ/verb
pare is spelled P-A-R-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “pair vs pare” about 480 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, pare means “To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a cutting device, typically a knife” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in pare?
| Letters | 4: P-A-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| 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 common is pare?
Pare appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th 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 pare?
- UK /pɛə/
- US /pɛɹ/
- Australia /peː/
Pare 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pare.wav, En-au-pair.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with pare
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: pair, pear, pere (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with pare?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pare from its last stressed vowel (/ɛɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: rape, reap, pear, aper.
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 pare
- pares present, singular, he/she/it
- paring participle, present
- pared participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pare mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a cutting device, typically a knife.
Victor pared some apples in preparation to make a tart.
- 2
To reduce, diminish or trim gradually something as if by cutting off.
Albert had to pare his options down by disregarding anything beyond his meager budget.
- 3
To trim the hoof of a horse.
- 4
IrelandslangTo sharpen a pencil.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pare in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | éplucher, peler , rogner |
| German | schälen, pellen, abschälen, abschneiden, abhobeln , beschneiden |
| Spanish | pelar, mondar |
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 pare come from?
From Middle English paren, from Old French parer (“to arrange, prepare, trim”), from Latin parō (“to prepare, arrange; to provide, furnish; to resolve, purpose”) (related to pariō (“to bear, to give birth to; to spawn, produce, beget; to procure, acquire”)), from a Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring forward, bring forth”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).