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PlainSpell

recruit

/ɹɪˈkɹut/noun, verb

recruit is spelled R-E-C-R-U-I-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, recruit means “A supply of anything wasted or exhausted; a reinforcement” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of recruit is recruits.

How many letters and syllables are in recruit?

Letters7: R-E-C-R-U-I-T
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing7.8 times per million words; the 8,417th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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

How common is recruit?

Recruit appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th 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 recruit?

  • US /ɹɪˈkɹut/
  • UK /ɹɪˈkɹuːt/

Recruit has 2 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-recruit.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with recruit?

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

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 recruit

  • recruits plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • recruiting participle, present
  • recruited participle, past

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

What does recruit mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A supply of anything wasted or exhausted; a reinforcement.

  2. 2

    A person enlisted for service in the army; a newly enlisted soldier.

  3. 3

    A hired worker

    These new recruits were hired after passing the interviews

  4. 4

    A new adult or breeding-age member of a certain population.

verb

  1. 1

    To enroll or enlist new members or potential employees on behalf of an employer, organization, sports team, the military, etc.

    We need to recruit more admin staff to deal with the massive surge in popularity of our products

  2. 2

    To supply with new men, as an army; to fill up or make up by enlistment; also, to muster

    the army was recruited for a campaign

  3. 3

    archaicTo replenish, renew, or reinvigorate by fresh supplies; to remedy a lack or deficiency in.

  4. 4

    To become an adult or breeding-age member of a population.

  5. 5

    To prompt a protein, leucocyte. etc. to intervene in a given region of the body.

  6. 6

    datedTo recuperate; to gain health, flesh, spirits, or the like.

    Lean cattle recruit in fresh pastures.

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

How do you abbreviate recruit?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of recruit: rct..

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

Recruit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Portuguesereforço (supply of anything wasted or exhausted; a…), recruta (newly enlisted soldier), recrutar (to enroll or enlist new members or potential…)
Frenchrecrue (newly enlisted soldier), recruter, enrôler (to enroll or enlist new members or potential…)
GermanRekrut (newly enlisted soldier), rekrutieren, anwerben, werben (to enroll or enlist new members or potential…)
Spanishrecluta (newly enlisted soldier), reclutar (to enroll or enlist new members or potential…), contratado (hired worker)

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 recruit come from?

From French recruter (as a verb).

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

What to look up after recruit