six
/sɪks/number, noun
six is spelled S-I-X: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 195 times per million words in written English, the 516th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a number, six means “A numerical value equal to 6; the number following five and preceding seven. This number of dots: (••••••)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in six?
| Letters | 3: S-I-X |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 195 times per million words; the 516th 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 six?
Six appears 195 times per million words in written English, the 516th 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 six?
- /sɪks/
- /səks/
Six 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-six.ogg, En-au-six.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of six
- sixes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does six mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
number
- 1
A numerical value equal to 6; the number following five and preceding seven. This number of dots: (••••••).
noun
- 1
A group or set with six elements.
- 2
The digit or figure 6.
- 3
A playing card featuring six pips.
- 4
A person who is six years old.
The fives and sixes will have a snack first, then the older kids.
- 5
Six o'clock.
- 6
slangRear, behind (rear side of something).
cover my six
- 7
An event whereby a batsman hits a ball which does not bounce before passing over a boundary in the air, resulting in an award of 6 runs for the batting team.
His century featured 12 sixes.
- 8
A touchdown.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Six in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 six come from?
From Middle English six, from Old English six, from Proto-West Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs. Compare West Frisian seis, Dutch zes, Low German söss, sess, German sechs, Norwegian and Danish seks, also Latin sex, Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx), Sanskrit षष् (ṣaṣ). Doublet of sice. Toilet sense predates military usage.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).