Skip to main content
PlainSpell

resume

ré·su·mé/ɹɪˈzjuːm/verb, noun

resume is spelled R-E-S-U-M-E: 6 letters and 3 syllables (ré·su·mé). It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “resume vs resumé” about 110 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, resume means “To start (something) again that has been stopped or paused from the point at which it was stopped or paused; continue, carry on” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in resume?

Letters6: R-E-S-U-M-E
Syllables3: ré·su·mé
In writing13 times per million words; the 5,878th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

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 common is resume?

Resume appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,878th 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 resume?

  • /ɹɪˈzjuːm/
  • /ɹɪˈʒum/
  • /ɹəˈʒum/

As a noun (“A summary or synopsis”): /ˈɹɛz.(j)ʊˌmeɪ/, /ɹɪˈzjuː.meɪ/, /ˈɹɛz.ə.meɪ/.

Resume has 3 syllables, split ré·su·mé in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-resumé.ogg, En-us-resume-document.ogg, En-uk-resume.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with resume

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

resume vs resumé110 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of resume

  • résumés plural
  • resumes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • resuming participle, present
  • resumed participle, past
  • résumé
  • resumé
  • resumés plural

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

What does resume mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    archaicTo take back possession of (something)

    Ladies and gentlemen, please resume your seats.

  2. 2

    archaicTo summarise.

  3. 3

    To start (something) again that has been stopped or paused from the point at which it was stopped or paused; continue, carry on.

    We will resume this discussion tomorrow at nine.

  4. 4

    To start again after an interruption or pause.

    Normal service has resumed.

noun

  1. 1

    A summary or synopsis.

  2. 2

    AustraliaCanadaUSA summary or account of education and employment experiences and qualifications; a curriculum vitae (often for presentation to a potential future employer when applying for a job).

noun

as résumé
  1. 1

    Alternative spelling of resume (“a summary, especially of employment history”).

    On one occasion Mrs. Val Gwepton, who was not blessed with the most reposeful of temperaments, fairly let herself go, and gave Mrs. Pentherby a vivid and truthful résumé of her opinion of her.

noun

as resumé
  1. 1

    Alternative spelling of resume (“summary, especially of employment history”).

  2. 2

    Alternative spelling of résumé.

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

How do you abbreviate resume?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of resume: res..

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

Resume in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanfortsetzen, sich etwas zurückholen (to take back possession of something), zusammenfassen (to summarize), wiederaufnehmen ((transitive) start something again that has…), neu beginnen ((intransitive) start again after interruption…)
Spanishresumir (to summarize), reanudar, retomar, continuar, proseguir ((transitive) start something again that has…), reanudarse ((intransitive) start again after interruption…)
Frenchrecommencer, reprendre, continuer ((transitive) start something again that has…)
Portugueseretomar, continuar ((transitive) start something again that has…)

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 resume come from?

From Anglo-Norman resumer, Middle French resumer, from Latin resumere, from re- + sumere (“to take”).

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

What to look up after resume