scales
/skeɪlz/noun, verb
scales is spelled S-C-A-L-E-S: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, scales means “A device for measuring weight” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in scales?
| Letters | 6: S-C-A-L-E-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 9.5 times per million words; the 7,338th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is scales?
Scales appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th 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 scales?
- /skeɪlz/
Scales 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-us-scales.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does scales mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A device for measuring weight.
The butcher put the sausages on the scales.
- 2
plural of scale
verb
- 1
third-person singular simple present indicative of scale
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scales in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense device for weighing things:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | balance |
| German | Waage |
| Portuguese | balança |
| Spanish | báscula, balanza, peso, romana, estatera |
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.