Skip to main content
PlainSpell

reference

ref·er·ence/ˈɹɛf.(ə.)ɹəns/noun, verb

reference is spelled R-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E, 3 syllables: ref·er·ence. The wrong spelling people search most is refrence: about 940 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026). Reference is a noun meaning “A measurement one can compare (some other measurement) to”. The plural of reference is references.

How many letters and syllables are in reference?

Letters9: R-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E
Syllables3: ref·er·ence
In writing55 times per million words; the 1,865th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched9; the most searched, refrence, about 940 Bing searches a month (all of them)

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).

How do you spell reference?

Reference is spelled R-E-F-E-R-E-N-C-E. 9 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure.

referencethe right spelling
refrencea missing e940 searches a month
referancea in place of e630 searches a month
referncea missing e250 searches a month
referrencean extra r180 searches a month
refferencean extra f170 searches a month
referecea missing n30 searches a month
referemcem in place of n20 searches a month
referenecean extra e10 searches a month

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 reference?

Reference appears 55 times per million words in written English, the 1,865th 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 reference?

  • US /ˈɹɛf.(ə.)ɹəns/
  • US [ˈɹɛf.ɹn̩s]
  • /ˈɹɛf.ə.ɹɛns/

Reference has 3 syllables, split ref·er·ence in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-reference.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-reference.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of reference

  • references plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • referencing participle, present
  • referenced participle, past

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

What does reference mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    archaicA relationship or relation (to something).

  2. 2

    A measurement one can compare (some other measurement) to.

  3. 3

    Information about a person, provided by someone (a referee) with whom they are well acquainted.

  4. 4

    USA person who provides this information; a referee.

  5. 5

    A reference work.

    reference grammar

  6. 6

    The act of referring: a submitting for information or decision.

  7. 7

    A relation between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object.

  8. 8

    A short written identification of a previously published work which is used as a source for a text.

verb

  1. 1

    To provide a list of references for (a text).

    You must thoroughly reference your paper before submitting it.

  2. 2

    To cite, to use as a reference.

    Reference the dictionary for word meanings.

  3. 3

    proscribedTo mention, to refer to.

    In his speech, the candidate obliquely referenced the past failures of his opponent.

  4. 4

    To contain the value that is a memory address of some value stored in memory.

    The given pointer will reference the actual generated data.

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

How do you abbreviate reference?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of reference: ref, ref..

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

Reference in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchréférence (measurement one can compare to), recommandation (information about a person), faire référence à, référencer, se référer à (to refer to)
GermanReferenz (measurement one can compare to), referenzieren (to refer to), Quelle (academic writing: source), sich beziehen (to mention)
Portuguesereferência (measurement one can compare to), referenciar (to refer to), mencionar (to mention)
Spanishreferencia (measurement one can compare to), referenciar (to refer to)

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 reference come from?

From Middle French référence, from Medieval Latin referentia, nominative neuter plural of referēns, present participle of referō (“return, reply”, literally “carry back”). Morphologically refer + -ence.

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

What to look up after reference