release
/ɹəˈliːs/noun, verb
release is spelled R-E-L-E-A-S-E. The wrong spelling people search most is elease: about 110 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 71 of all searches for the word. Release is a noun meaning “The event of setting (someone or something) free (e.g. hostages, slaves, prisoners, caged animals, hooked or…”. The plural of release is releases.
How many letters and syllables are in release?
| Letters | 7: R-E-L-E-A-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 123 times per million words; the 851st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 3; the most searched, elease, about 110 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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).
How do you spell release?
Release is spelled R-E-L-E-A-S-E. 3 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 32 of the searches for release 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 release?
Release appears 123 times per million words in written English, the 851st 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 release?
- /ɹəˈliːs/
- /ɹɪˈliːs/
- /ɹiˈliːs/
As a verb (“To lease again; to grant a new lease of; to let back”): /ɹiːˈliːs/.
Release 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: En-us-release.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with release
Also written: re-lease (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of release
- releases plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- releasing participle, present
- released participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does release mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The event of setting (someone or something) free (e.g. hostages, slaves, prisoners, caged animals, hooked or stuck mechanisms).
- 2
The distribution, either public or private, of an initial or new and upgraded version of a computer software product.
- 3
Anything recently released or made available (as for sale).
The video store advertised that it had all the latest releases.
- 4
That which is released, untied or let go.
They marked the occasion with a release of butterflies.
- 5
The giving up of a claim, especially a debt.
- 6
Liberation from pain or suffering.
- 7
The process by which a chemical substance is set free.
- 8
The act or manner of ending a sound.
verb
- 1
To let go of; to cease to hold or contain.
He released his grasp on the lever.
- 2
To make available to the public.
They released the new product later than intended.
- 3
To free or liberate; to set free.
He was released after two years in prison.
- 4
To discharge.
They released thousands of gallons of water into the river each month.
- 5
(of a call) To hang up.
If you continue to use abusive language, I will need to release the call.
- 6
To let go, quit (a legal claim); to discharge or relinquish a right to (lands or buildings) by conveying to another who has some right or estate in possession.
- 7
To loosen; to relax; to remove the obligation of.
- 8
To set up; to provide with a goalscoring opportunity.
- 9
To lease again; to grant a new lease of; to let back.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Release in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | lâcher, relâche , version , sortie, parution , remise de dette |
| German | Entlassen , Version , Veröffentlichung , Schulderlass , Freisetzung , loslassen |
| Portuguese | libertar, liberar , lançamento, versão , remissão de dívida , soltar |
| Spanish | liberación, libramiento , versión , lanzamiento , soltado, descargado |
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 release come from?
From Middle English relesen, relessen, from Old French relaisser (variant of relascher).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).