se
/sɛ/noun
se is spelled S-E: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,365th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, se means “A type of ancient Chinese plucked zither” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of se is ses.
How many letters and syllables are in se?
| Letters | 2: S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 19 times per million words; the 4,365th 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 se?
Se appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,365th 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 se?
- /sɛ/
Se 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-se.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of se
- ses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does se mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A type of ancient Chinese plucked zither.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of southeast.
- 2
Initialism of second edition.
- 3
Initialism of special edition.
- 4
Initialism of sound effect.
- 5
Initialism of standard edition.
- 6
Initialism of software engineering.
- 7
Initialism of sustainer engine.
- 8
Initialism of secondary electron.
adjective
- 1
Initialism of single ended.
- 2
Abbreviation of southeast.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Se in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense compass point:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | SE |
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 se come from?
From Mandarin 瑟 (sè).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).