see
/si/verb, interjection, noun
see is spelled S-E-E: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1,259 times per million words in written English, the 87th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, see means “To perceive or detect someone or something with the eyes, or as if by sight” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in see?
| Letters | 3: S-E-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1,259 times per million words; the 87th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| 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 see?
See appears 1,259 times per million words in written English, the 87th 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 see?
- UK /siː/
- US /si/
See 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-to_see.ogg, En-us-see.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with see
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: Seay, cee, sea, si (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: cee.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with see?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as see from its last stressed vowel (/i/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ese, ees.
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 see
- sees present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- seeing participle, present
- saw past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- seen participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does see mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To perceive or detect someone or something with the eyes, or as if by sight.
To see us, you'd think we've been married for years, but actually just met a few months ago.
- 2
To witness or observe by personal experience.
Now I've seen it all!
- 3
To watch (a movie) at a cinema, or a show on television etc.
I saw the latest Tarantino flick last week.
- 4
To form a mental picture of, to perceive in a certain way.
I see it as essential that there should be somewhere to park.
- 5
To understand.
Do you see what I mean?
- 6
To come to a realization of having been mistaken or misled.
They're blind to the damage they do, but someday they'll see.
- 7
To foresee, predict, or prophesy.
The oracle saw the destruction of the city.
- 8
Used to emphasise a proposition.
You see, Johnny, your Dad isn't your real father.
interjection
- 1
Introducing an explanation.
See, in order to win the full prize we would have to come up with a scheme to land a rover on the Moon.
noun
- 1
A diocese or archdiocese: a region of a church, generally headed by a bishop or an archbishop.
- 2
The office of a bishop or archbishop.
- 3
A seat; a site; a place where sovereign, autonomous, or autocephalous power is exercised.
- 4
Alternative form of cee; the name of the Latin script letter C/c.
noun
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of see.
noun
- 1
Initialism of single-event effect (a temporary or permanent fault caused by an ionizing radiation particle or ray striking a computer chip).
- 2
Initialism of Signed Exact English.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate see?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of see: C, c.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
See in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | voir , siège, évêché |
| German | sehen, schauen, gseh, sengan , verstehen, iigsee |
| Portuguese | ver, enxergar, olhar , sé , entender , veja só |
| Spanish | ver , sede , entender , encargarse , registrar |
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 see come from?
From Middle English seen, from Old English sēon (“to see, look, behold, perceive, observe, discern, understand, know”), from Proto-West Germanic *sehwan, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną (“to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, notice”). Etymology 1 sense 9 is a calque of Latin vidē (“see (thou)”, 2ⁿᵈ person singular imperative), which was also borrowed into academic English (see vide) as well as Portuguese.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).