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PlainSpell

pay

/peɪ/verb, noun, adjective

pay is spelled P-A-Y: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 251 times per million words in written English, the 387th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Pay, the name). As a verb, pay means “To give money or other compensation to in exchange for goods or services” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in pay?

Letters3: P-A-Y
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing251 times per million words; the 387th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is pay?

Pay appears 251 times per million words in written English, the 387th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Pay, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pay?

  • US /peɪ/
  • US [pʰeɪ̯]

Pay 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-pay.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with pay?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pay from its last stressed vowel (/eɪ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: yap, pya.

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 pay

  • pays present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • paying participle, present
  • paid participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • payed participle, past

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

What does pay mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To give money or other compensation to in exchange for goods or services.

    pay cash or pay in cash, pay by credit/debit card

  2. 2

    To deposit into an account.

    I pay a portion of each paycheck into a savings account.

  3. 3

    To discharge, as a debt or other obligation, by giving or doing what is due or required.

    to pay compensation, to pay a fine

  4. 4

    To be profitable; to be worth it.

    It didn't pay him to keep the store open any more.

  5. 5

    To cover, as a cost.

    Those investments paid for her college education.

  6. 6

    To yield as a benefit.

    to pay dividends; to pay interest

  7. 7

    To give (something else than money).

    to pay attention, to pay tribute, to pay a visit

  8. 8

    To suffer consequences, especially justly.

    He paid for his fun in the sun with a terrible sunburn.

  9. 9

    To cover (the bottom of a vessel, a seam, a spar, etc.) with tar or pitch, or a waterproof composition of tallow, resin, etc.; to smear.

noun

  1. 1

    Money given in return for work; salary or wages.

    Many employers have rules designed to keep employees from comparing their pays.

  2. 2

    rareA paying job; a paying concern.

adjective

  1. 1

    Operable or accessible on deposit of coins.

    pay toilet

  2. 2

    Pertaining to or requiring payment.

    pay television

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

How do you abbreviate pay?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of pay: PP.

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

Pay in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpayer (to give money in exchange for goods or services), verser, régler (to discharge by giving or doing what is due or…), donner (to give (e.g. attention)), paye, paie (money given in return for work)
Germanbezahlen, zahlen, zale (to give money in exchange for goods or services), schenken, gebühren (to give (e.g. attention)), sich lohnen (to be profitable – see also pay off)
Portuguesepagar (to give money in exchange for goods or services), prestar (to give (e.g. attention)), pagamento (money given in return for work), compensar (to be profitable – see also pay off)
Spanishpagar, cashquear, garpar, costear, recudir, abonar (to give money in exchange for goods or services)

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 pay come from?

From Middle English payen, from Old French paiier (“pay”), from Medieval Latin pācāre (“to settle, satisfy”) from Latin pācāre (“to pacify”). In this sense, displaced native Old English ġield (“pay”) and ġieldan (“to pay”), whence Modern English yield.

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

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