pigeon
pi·geon/ˈpɪ.dʒɪn/noun, verb
pigeon is spelled P-I-G-E-O-N, 2 syllables: pi·geon. The wrong spelling people search most is pijon: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 500 of all searches for the word. Pigeon is a noun meaning “One of several birds of the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes”. The plural of pigeon is pigeons.
How many letters and syllables are in pigeon?
| Letters | 6: P-I-G-E-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: pi·geon |
| In writing | 4.1 times per million words; the 12,764th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, pijon, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people 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); 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 pigeon?
Pigeon is spelled P-I-G-E-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 505 of the searches for pigeon 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 pigeon?
Pigeon appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th 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 pigeon?
- US /ˈpɪ.dʒɪn/
- US /ˈpɪ.dʒən/
- /ˈpə.dʒən/
Pigeon has 2 syllables, split pi·geon in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pigeon.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with pigeon
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with pigeon?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pigeon from its last stressed vowel (/ɪdʒɪn/):
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 pigeon
- pigeons plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- pigeoning participle, present
- pigeoned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pigeon mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
One of several birds of the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes.
- 2
The meat from this bird.
- 3
CanadaUSinformalA person who is a target or victim of a confidence game.
- 4
A pacifist, appeaser, an isolationist, a dove.
- 5
A person hired to transport film footage out of a region where transport options are limited.
- 6
AustraliaslangA weak or useless person.
- 7
UKarchaicinformalConcern or responsibility.
It's their pigeon.
verb
- 1
To deceive with a confidence game.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pigeon in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense bird of the dove and pigeon family Columbidae – see also dove:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pigeon |
| German | Taube, Tauber, Täuber, Tauberich, Täuberich, Täubin |
| Portuguese | pombo, pomba |
| Spanish | paloma, palomo, urpila, urpilla, cuculí, torcacita |
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 pigeon come from?
Inherited from Middle English pygeoun, borrowed from Old French pyjon, inherited from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), derived from Latin pīpiāre (“to chirp”), of imitative origin. Partly displaced native English dove.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).