Skip to main content
PlainSpell

sample

sam·ple/ˈsæm.pəl/noun, verb

sample is spelled S-A-M-P-L-E, 2 syllables: sam·ple. The wrong spelling people search most is sampe: about 180 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 42 of all searches for the word. Sample is a noun meaning “A part or snippet of something taken or presented for inspection, or shown as evidence of the quality of the…”. The plural of sample is samples.

How many letters and syllables are in sample?

Letters6: S-A-M-P-L-E
Syllables2: sam·ple
In writing34 times per million words; the 2,831st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, sampe, about 180 Bing searches a month (all of them)
Rhymes with

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

How do you spell sample?

Sample is spelled S-A-M-P-L-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 42 of the searches for sample in either form.

samplethe right spelling7,450 searches a month
sampea missing l180 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 sample?

Sample appears 34 times per million words in written English, the 2,831st 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 sample?

  • UK /ˈsɑːm.pəl/
  • /ˈsam.pəl/
  • US /ˈsæm.pəl/

Sample has 2 syllables, split sam·ple in writing.

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

What rhymes with sample?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sample from its last stressed vowel (/æmpəl/):

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 sample

  • samples plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • sampling participle, present
  • sampled participle, past

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

What does sample mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A part or snippet of something taken or presented for inspection, or shown as evidence of the quality of the whole; a specimen.

    a blood sample

  2. 2

    A subset or portion of a population that is systematically selected for measurement, observation, or questioning, with the objective of generating statistical information that accurately reflects the characteristics of the entire population.

    Large samples are generally more reliable than small samples due to having less variability.

  3. 3

    A small quantity of food for tasting, typically given away for free.

  4. 4

    A small piece of some goods, for determining quality, colour, etc., typically given away for free.

  5. 5

    A borrowing of easily recognised phases (or moments) from other music (or movies) in a recording.

  6. 6

    obsoleteExample; pattern.

verb

  1. 1

    To take or to test a sample or samples of.

  2. 2

    To reduce a continuous signal (such as a sound wave) to a discrete signal.

  3. 3

    To reuse a portion of (an existing sound recording) in a new piece of music.

  4. 4

    To make or show something similar to a sample.

noun

as SAMPLE
  1. 1

    Initialism of signs and symptoms, allergies, medications, past pertinent history, last oral intake, events leading to present illness.

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

Sample in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchéchantillon, extrait, exemple (part taken for inspection), échantillonner, goûter (to take or to test a sample or samples of)
GermanProbe, Muster (part taken for inspection), probieren (to take or to test a sample or samples of), Stichprobe (statistics), Probierhäppchen, Kostprobe (cooking)
Portugueseamostra (part taken for inspection), provar, amostrar (to take or to test a sample or samples of), sample (music), samplar, samplear (music: to reuse a portion of an existing…)
Spanishmuestra (part taken for inspection), samplear, muestrear (to take or to test a sample or samples of), sampleo (music), mostrear (music: to reuse a portion of an existing…)

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 sample come from?

Inherited from Middle English saumple, sample, from Old French essample (“example”), from Latin exemplum. Doublet of example and exemplum.

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

What to look up after sample