plum
/plʌm/noun, adjective, adverb, verb
plum is spelled P-L-U-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “plum vs plumb” about 210 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, plum means “An edible, fleshy stone fruit of species Prunus domestica (European plum) and Prunus americana American plum, often of a dark red or purple colour” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of plum is plums.
How many letters and syllables are in plum?
| Letters | 4: P-L-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th 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 plum?
Plum appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th 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 plum?
- /plʌm/
- /plʊm/
Plum has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-plum.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with plum
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: plumb (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: plumb.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with plum?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as plum.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: lump.
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 plum
- plums plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- more plum comparative
- most plum superlative
- plumming participle, present
- plummed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does plum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An edible, fleshy stone fruit of species Prunus domestica (European plum) and Prunus americana American plum, often of a dark red or purple colour.
- 2
A stone-fruit tree which bears this fruit, Prunus domestica.
- 3
Prunus cerasifera (cherry plum or myrobalan).
- 4
Prunus salicina (Chinese plum or Japanese plum).
- 5
Prunus spinosa (sloe).
- 6
Prunus ursina (bear's plum).
- 7
Prunus americana (American plum).
- 8
Prunus angustifolia (Chickasaw plum or sand plum).
adjective
- 1
Of a dark bluish-red colour.
- 2
Choice; especially lavish or preferred.
She landed a plum position as an executive for the firm.
- 3
Plumb.
adverb
- 1
Completely; utterly.
You're going to think I'm plum crazy for this, but I want to adopt all seven kittens.
verb
- 1
To plumb.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Plum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | prune , prunier , meilleur morceau |
| German | Pflaume, Zwetschge , Pflaumenbaum , Leckerbissen , begehrt |
| Portuguese | ameixa, amêixoa , ameixeira , bolas |
| Spanish | ciruela, pruna, guindón , ciruelo , selecto , color ciruela |
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 plum come from?
From Middle English plomme, ploume, from Old English plūme, from Proto-West Germanic *plūmā, borrowed from Latin prūnum. Doublet of prune.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).