road
/ɹod/noun, adjective
road is spelled R-O-A-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 174 times per million words in written English, the 576th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “road vs rode” about 320 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, road means “A way used for travelling between places, originally one wide enough to allow foot passengers and horses to travel, now (US) usually one surfaced…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of road is roads.
How many letters and syllables are in road?
| Letters | 4: R-O-A-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 174 times per million words; the 576th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is road?
Road appears 174 times per million words in written English, the 576th 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 road?
- /ɾoːɖ/
- /rod/
- US /ɹod/
Road has one syllable (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-uk-a_road.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-road.wav, En-us-road.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with road
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with road?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as road (/od/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: dora, orda.
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 road
- roads plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does road mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A way used for travelling between places, originally one wide enough to allow foot passengers and horses to travel, now (US) usually one surfaced with asphalt or concrete and designed to accommodate many vehicles travelling in both directions. In the UK both senses are heard: a country road is the same as a country lane.
- 2
Roads in general as a means of travel, especially by motor vehicle.
We travelled to the seaside by road.
- 3
datedA physical way or route.
- 4
A path chosen, as in life or career.
the road to happiness; the road to success.
- 5
An underground tunnel in a mine.
- 6
USarchaicA railroad.
- 7
UKUSA single railroad track (railway track).
- 8
obsoleteThe act of riding on horseback.
adjective
- 1
CanadaUSAt the venue of the opposing team or competitor; on the road.
- 2
Of or pertaining to a road bike.
road tires
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate road?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of road: rd, rd..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Road in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | route , chemin |
| German | Straße |
| Portuguese | estrada, caminho, via |
| Spanish | carretera, calzada , camino |
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 road come from?
From Middle English rode, rade (“ride, journey”), from Old English rād (“riding, hostile incursion”), from Proto-West Germanic *raidu, from Proto-Germanic *raidō (“a ride”), from Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ- (“to ride”). Doublet of raid, acquired from Scots. Cognates include West Frisian reed (paved trail/road, driveway).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).