plead
/pliːd/verb
plead is spelled P-L-E-A-D: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “plead vs pled” about 1,300 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, plead means “To present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in plead?
| Letters | 5: P-L-E-A-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.3 times per million words; the 12,397th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| 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 plead?
Plead appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th 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 plead?
- /pliːd/
- /plɛd/
Plead 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-plead.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with plead
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: pled.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with plead?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as plead.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: pedal, paled, padel.
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 plead
- pleads present, singular, he/she/it
- pleading participle, present
- pleaded participle, past
- pled US, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does plead mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case.
The defendant has decided to plead not guilty.
- 2
To beg, beseech, or implore, especially emotionally.
He pleaded with me not to leave the house.
- 3
To offer by way of excuse.
Not wishing to attend the banquet, I pleaded illness.
- 4
To discuss by arguments.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Plead in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | plaider |
| German | plädieren, bekennen, eintreten , (dringend) bitten, anflehen, beschwören |
| Portuguese | pleitear , implorar, suplicar , alegar |
| Spanish | pleitear, declararse , rogar, suplicar |
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 plead come from?
From Middle English pleden, plaiden, from Old French plaider (“to plead, offer a plea”), from plait, from Medieval Latin placitum (“a decree, sentence, suit, plea, etc.", in Classical Latin, "an opinion, determination, prescription, order; literally, that which is pleasing, pleasure”), neuter of placitus, past participle of placeō (“to please”). Cognate with Spanish pleitear (“to litigate, take to court”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).