sight
/saɪt/noun, verb
sight is spelled S-I-G-H-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “sight vs site” about 5,400 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, sight means “The sense or faculty by which objects are perceived through the agency of light; the sense by which we see” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sight is sights.
How many letters and syllables are in sight?
| Letters | 5: S-I-G-H-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 35 times per million words; the 2,785th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
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).
How common is sight?
Sight appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th 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 sight?
- /saɪt/
- /səɪt/
Sight 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-sight.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with sight
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: cite, site (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of sight
- sights plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- sicht
- sighting participle, present
- sighted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sight mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The sense or faculty by which objects are perceived through the agency of light; the sense by which we see.
Sight is a precious gift.
- 2
An act, instance, opportunity or possibility of seeing; the perception of objects by the eye; view (see also idiomatic expressions such as in sight, out of sight, catch sight of, etc.)
The sight of him in his new uniform made us all proud.
- 3
Something seen.
The sight in front of me seemed somehow familiar.
- 4
Something worth seeing; a spectacle, either good or bad.
We went to London and saw all the sights – Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, and so on.
- 5
A device used in aiming a projectile, through which the person aiming looks at the intended target; see also in one's sights.
- 6
A small aperture through which objects are to be seen, and by which their direction is settled or ascertained.
the sight of a quadrant
- 7
colloquiala great deal, a lot; frequently used to intensify a comparative.
a sight of money
- 8
In a drawing, picture, etc., that part of the surface, as of paper or canvas, which is within the frame or the border or margin. In a frame, the open space, the opening.
verb
- 1
To see; to get sight of (something); to register visually.
to sight land from a ship
- 2
To observe through, or as if through, a sight, to check the elevation, direction, levelness, or other characteristics of, especially when surveying or navigating.
- 3
To apply sights to; to adjust the sights of.
to sight a rifle or a cannon
- 4
To observe or aim (at something) using a (gun) sight.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sight in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vue , quelque chose à voir, truc à voir, principales attractions, monuments, curiosité |
| Portuguese | vista , espetáculo , mira , ver, avistar , mirar |
| Spanish | vista , lugar de interés , visor, mira , ver, avistar |
| German | Sehenswürdigkeit, Gesicht , Visier , sehen, erblicken , anvisieren |
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 sight come from?
From Middle English sighte, from Old English sihþ (“something seen; vision”), from Proto-West Germanic *sihti (“seeing, sight”), equivalent to see + -t.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).