Skip to main content
PlainSpell

size

/saɪz/noun, verb

size is spelled S-I-Z-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 135 times per million words in written English, the 770th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, size means “The dimensions or magnitude of a thing; how big something is” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of size is sizes.

How many letters and syllables are in size?

Letters4: S-I-Z-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing135 times per million words; the 770th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in 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).

How common is size?

Size appears 135 times per million words in written English, the 770th 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 size?

  • /saɪz/

Size 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-size.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-size.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with size

Sounds like: scise (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: chili size.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of size

  • sizes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • sizing participle, present
  • sized participle, past

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

What does size mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    The dimensions or magnitude of a thing; how big something is.

    The size of the building seemed to have increased since I was last there.

  2. 2

    A specific set of dimensions for a manufactured article, especially clothing.

    I don't think we have the red one in your size.

  3. 3

    The number of edges in a graph.

  4. 4

    datedDegree of rank, ability, character, etc.

  5. 5

    An instrument consisting of a number of perforated gauges fastened together at one end by a rivet, used for measuring the size of pearls

    Edward H[enry] Knight (1877), “Size”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes III (REA–ZYM), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC..

  6. 6

    USEllipsis of chili size (“hamburger served with chili con carne”).

  7. 7

    obsoleteAn assize.

  8. 8

    obsoleteA regulation, piece of ordinance.

  9. 9

    A thin, weak glue used as primer for paper or canvas intended to be painted upon.

  10. 10

    Wallpaper paste.

  11. 11

    The thickened crust on coagulated blood.

  12. 12

    Any viscous substance, such as gilder's varnish.

  13. 13

    Alternative form of sice (“number six in dice games”).

verb

  1. 1

    To adjust the size of; to make a certain size.

  2. 2

    To take the height of men, in order to place them in the ranks according to their stature.

  3. 3

    To sift (pieces of ore or metal) in order to separate the finer from the coarser parts.

  4. 4

    To separate different proteins by molecular weight.

  5. 5

    colloquialTo approximate the dimensions, estimate the size of.

  6. 6

    To take a greater size; to increase in size.

    after 1633 (first published), John Donne, Farewell to Love Our desires give them fashion, and so, / As they wax lesser, fall, as they size, grow.

  7. 7

    UKobsoleteTo order food or drink from the buttery; hence, to enter a score, as upon the buttery book.

  8. 8

    obsoleteTo swell; to increase the bulk of.

  9. 9

    To apply glue or other primer to a surface which is to be painted.

  10. 10

    To apply a thickening agent (such as cornstarch or gelatin) to warp threads to prevent abrasion or unraveling during weaving.

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

Size in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtaille (dimensions or magnitude of a thing), dimensionner (to adjust the size of)
GermanGröße (dimensions or magnitude of a thing), Kleidergröße, Konfektionsgröße (a specific set of dimensions for clothing)
Portuguesetamanho (dimensions or magnitude of a thing)
Spanishtamaño, talla (dimensions or magnitude of a thing), formar por tamaño, ordenar por tamaño (to classify or arrange by size), medir (to estimate the size of), sellador (thin, weak glue intended to be painted upon)

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 size come from?

Attested since the 14th century, originally meant a “law or regulation that determines the amount to be paid”, from Middle English syse, sise (“regulation, control, limit”), from Old French cise, sise, aphetism of assise (“assize”), from the verb asseoir (“to sit down”), from Latin assidēre, composed of ad- (“to, towards, at”) + sedeō (“sit; settle down”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-. Displaced native Old English miċelnes (literally “bigness”).

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

What to look up after size