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PlainSpell

side

/ˈsaɪ̯d/noun, adjective, verb, adverb

side is spelled S-I-D-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 316 times per million words in written English, the 298th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Side, the name). As a noun, side means “A bounding straight edge of a two-dimensional shape” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of side is sides.

How many letters and syllables are in side?

Letters4: S-I-D-E
Syllables1
In writing316 times per million words; the 298th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

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

How common is side?

Side appears 316 times per million words in written English, the 298th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Side, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce side?

  • /ˈsaɪ̯d/
  • [ˈsaɪ̯d]
  • Australia /ˈsɑɪ̯d/

Side has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-side.ogg, En-au-side.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with side?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as side.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: desi, ides.

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 side

  • sides plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • more side comparative
  • most side superlative
  • siding participle, present
  • sided participle, past

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

What does side mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A bounding straight edge of a two-dimensional shape.

    A square has four sides.

  2. 2

    A flat surface of a three-dimensional object; a face.

    A cube has six sides.

  3. 3

    One half (left or right, top or bottom, front or back, etc.) of something or someone.

    Which side of the tray shall I put it on?  The patient was bleeding on the right side.

  4. 4

    A region in a specified position with respect to something.

    Meet me on the north side of the monument.

  5. 5

    The portion of the human torso usually covered by the arms when they are not raised; the areas on the left and right between the belly or chest and the back.

    Meronyms: flank, loin; latus, lumbus

  6. 6

    One surface of a sheet of paper (used instead of "page", which can mean one or both surfaces.)

    John wrote 15 sides for his essay!

  7. 7

    One possible aspect of a concept, person, or thing.

    Look on the bright side.

  8. 8

    One set of competitors in a game.

    Which side has kick-off?

adjective

  1. 1

    Being on the left or right, or toward the left or right; lateral.

  2. 2

    Indirect; oblique; incidental.

    a side issue; a side view or remark

  3. 3

    ScotlandUKarchaicWide; large; long, pendulous, hanging low, trailing; far-reaching.

  4. 4

    ScotlandFar; distant.

verb

  1. 1

    To ally oneself, be in an alliance, usually with "with" or rarely "in with"

    Which will you side with, good or evil?

  2. 2

    To lean on one side.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo be or stand at the side of; to be on the side toward.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo suit; to pair; to match.

  5. 5

    To work (a timber or rib) to a certain thickness by trimming the sides.

  6. 6

    To furnish with a siding.

    to side a house

  7. 7

    To provide with, as a side or accompaniment.

  8. 8

    To clear, tidy or sort.

adverb

  1. 1

    UKWidely; wide; far.

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

Side in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcôté (bounding straight edge of an object), face (flat surface of an object), page (surface of a sheet of paper), costé (region in a specified position with respect to…), équipe (set of opponents in a game)
GermanSeite (bounding straight edge of an object)
Portugueselado (bounding straight edge of an object), face (flat surface of an object), página (surface of a sheet of paper), tomar parte, aliar-se (ally oneself)
Spanishlado (bounding straight edge of an object), página (surface of a sheet of paper), equipo, selección (set of opponents in a game), bando (group having a particular allegiance in a war)

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 side come from?

From Middle English side, from Old English sīde (“side, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ (“side, flank, edge, shore”), derived from *sīdaz, probably from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“long, lasting”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Siede (“side”), West Frisian side (“side”), Dutch zijde, zij (“side”), German Low German Sied (“side”), German Seite (“side”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk side (“side”), Swedish sida (“side”).

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

What to look up after side