phase
/feɪz/noun, verb
phase is spelled P-H-A-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 44 times per million words in written English, the 2,290th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “faze vs phase” about 880 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, phase means “A distinguishable part of a sequence or cycle occurring over time” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of phase is phases.
How many letters and syllables are in phase?
| Letters | 5: P-H-A-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 44 times per million words; the 2,290th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 phase?
Phase appears 44 times per million words in written English, the 2,290th 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 phase?
- /feɪz/
Phase has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-phase.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with phase
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: faze (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: faze.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with phase?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as phase.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: shape, heaps.
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 phase
- phases plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- phasing participle, present
- phased participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does phase mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A distinguishable part of a sequence or cycle occurring over time.
- 2
That which is exhibited to the eye; the appearance which anything manifests, especially any one among different and varying appearances of the same object.
- 3
Any appearance or aspect of an object of mental apprehension or view.
The problem has many phases.
- 4
A particular appearance or state in a regularly recurring cycle of changes with respect to quantity of illumination or form, or the absence, of a body's illuminated disk. Illustrated in Wikipedia's article Lunar phase.
the phases of the moon
- 5
Any one point or portion in a recurring series of changes, as in the changes of motion of one of the particles constituting a wave or vibration; one portion of a series of such changes, in distinction from a contrasted portion, as the portion on one side of a position of equilibrium, in contrast with that on the opposite side.
- 6
A component in a material system that is distinguished by chemical composition and/or physical state (solid, liquid or gas) and/or crystal structure. It is delineated from an adjoining phase by an abrupt change in one or more of those conditions.
- 7
In certain organisms, one of two or more colour variations characteristic of the species, but independent of the ordinary seasonal and sexual differences, and often also of age.
- 8
The period of play between consecutive breakdowns.
verb
- 1
To begin–if construed with "in"–or to discontinue–if construed with out–(doing) something over a period of time (i.e. in phases).
The use of the obsolete machines was gradually phased out as the new models were phased in.
- 2
informalTo determine haplotypes in (data) when genotypes are known.
- 3
To pass into or through a solid object.
- 4
To use a phaser.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Phase in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense distinguishable part of a sequence:
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 phase come from?
Borrowed from New Latin phasis, borrowed from Ancient Greek φάσις (phásis, “appearance”), from φᾰ(ν)- (phă(n)-, root of φαίνω (phaínō, “to bring to light; to appear”)) + -σῐς (-sĭs). Compare phantasm and see face.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).