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PlainSpell

phone

/ˈfoʊ̯n/noun, verb

phone is spelled P-H-O-N-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 200 times per million words in written English, the 505th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, phone means “A device for transmitting conversations and other sounds in real time across distances, now often a small portable unit also capable of running…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of phone is phones or 'phones.

How many letters and syllables are in phone?

Letters5: P-H-O-N-E
Syllables1
In writing200 times per million words; the 505th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is phone?

Phone appears 200 times per million words in written English, the 505th 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 phone?

  • UK /ˈfəʊ̯n/
  • US /ˈfoʊ̯n/
  • US /ˈfɔʊ̯n/

Phone has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-phone.ogg, En-us-phone.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with phone

Also written: keys, wallet, phone.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with phone?

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

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 phone

  • phones plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • phoning participle, present
  • phoned participle, past
  • 'phones plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • 'phoning participle, present
  • 'phoned participle, past

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

What does phone mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A device for transmitting conversations and other sounds in real time across distances, now often a small portable unit also capable of running software etc.

    Daragh's on the phone at the moment. He'll call you when he's finished.

  2. 2

    colloquialA person's telephone number (as a means of contact); digits.

    It was a clear black night, a clear white moon / Warren G was on the streets tryin' to consume / Some skirts for the eve so I can get some phones / Rollin' in my ride, chillin' all alone

  3. 3

    A speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties, considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language.

verb

  1. 1

    To call (someone) using a telephone.

    Phone me as soon as you land at the airport.

  2. 2

    To say via telephone.

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

How do you abbreviate phone?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of phone: P.

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

Phone in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtéléphoner, appeler, phoner (to call (someone) on the telephone), phone (speech segment), -phone (type of sound)
Germananrufen, telefonieren (to call (someone) on the telephone), Phon (speech segment), -sprachig (forming adjectives: speaking a certain language)
Portuguesetelefonar para, chamar, ligar para (to call (someone) on the telephone), fone (speech segment), -fone (type of sound), -fono (forming nouns: speaker of a certain language)
Spanishtelefonear, llamar por teléfono, timbrar (to call (someone) on the telephone), fono (speech segment)

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 phone come from?

Clipping of telephone; first attested in 1884.

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

What to look up after phone