promise
prom·ise/ˈpɹɑmɪs/noun, verb
promise is spelled P-R-O-M-I-S-E, 2 syllables: prom·ise. The wrong spelling people search most is promiss: about 60 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 100 of all searches for the word. Promise is a noun meaning “An oath or affirmation; a vow”. The plural of promise is promises.
How many letters and syllables are in promise?
| Letters | 7: P-R-O-M-I-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: prom·ise |
| In writing | 51 times per million words; the 1,993rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, promiss, about 60 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| 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 do you spell promise?
Promise is spelled P-R-O-M-I-S-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 100 of the searches for promise 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 promise?
Promise appears 51 times per million words in written English, the 1,993rd most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Promise, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce promise?
- UK /ˈpɹɒmɪs/
- US /ˈpɹɑmɪs/
- Canada /ˈpɹɒmɪs/
Promise has 2 syllables, split prom·ise in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-promise.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with promise?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as promise (/ɑmɪs/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: semipro.
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 promise
- promises plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- promising participle, present
- promised participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does promise mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An oath or affirmation; a vow.
When I make a promise, I always stick to it.
- 2
A transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to their use.
He purſued Andrew Houſtoun upon his promiſe, to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in abſence obtained him to be holden as confeſt and Decerned.
- 3
Something promised.
That jewelry was a promise to me.
- 4
Reason to expect improvement or success; potential.
His grade are poor, but I see promise in him.
- 5
A placeholder object representing the eventual result of an asynchronous operation.
- 6
obsoleteBestowal or fulfillment of what is promised.
It is time they receive their promise.
verb
- 1
To commit to (some action or outcome), or to assure (a person) of such commitment; to make an oath or vow.
"You think that I'll take anything." "I know you will, sweet." … "There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be." "Well, there is now," she said sweetly.
- 2
To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.
The clouds promise rain.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Promise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vœu, promesse , promettre |
| German | Versprechen , versprechen |
| Portuguese | promessa , prometer |
| Spanish | promesa, promisión , prometer |
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 promise come from?
From Middle English promis, promisse, borrowed from Old French promesse, from Medieval Latin prōmissa, Latin prōmissum (“a promise”), feminine and neuter past participles of prōmittō (“to send forth, to say beforehand, to promise”), from pro (“forth”) + mittere (“to send”); see mission. Compare admit, commit, permit, etc. Displaced native ġehātan (“to promise”) and ġehāt (“a promise”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).