skill
[skɪɫ]noun, adjective, verb
skill is spelled S-K-I-L-L: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,479th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, skill means “A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of skill is skills.
How many letters and syllables are in skill?
| Letters | 5: S-K-I-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 26 times per million words; the 3,479th 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 skill?
Skill appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,479th 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 skill?
- /skɪl/
- US [skɪɫ]
- [skɪo̯]
Skill 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-skill.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of skill
- skills plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- skiller comparative
- skillest superlative
- skilling participle, present
- skilled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does skill mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
Where did you pick up that skill?
- 2
A reusable configuration (prompt) that defines how an AI agent performs a specific task.
- 3
obsoleteDiscrimination; judgment; propriety; reason; cause.
- 4
obsoleteKnowledge; understanding.
- 5
obsoleteDisplay of art; exercise of ability; contrivance; address.
adjective
- 1
UKslangGreat, excellent.
This game is skill. Remember that because it's going to sound really complicated.
verb
- 1
To set apart; separate.
- 2
To discern; have knowledge or understanding; to know how (to).
- 3
ScotlandrareTo know; to understand.
17th century, Isaac Barrow, “On Industry in Our Particular Calling as Scholars,” […] to skill the arts of expressing our mind and imparting our conceptions with advantage, so as to instruct or persuade others […]
- 4
To have knowledge or comprehension; discern.
- 5
To have personal or practical knowledge; be versed or practised; be expert or dextrous.
- 6
archaicTo make a difference; signify; matter.
- 7
To spend acquired points in exchange for skills.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Skill in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense capacity to do something well:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | habileté, compétence, don, capacité |
| German | Fähigkeit, Fertigkeit, Geschicklichkeit |
| Portuguese | habilidade, talento |
| Spanish | destreza, habilidad, maña, talento, primor, pericia |
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 skill come from?
From Middle English skill, skille (also schil, schile), from Old Norse skil (“a distinction, discernment, knowledge”), from Proto-Germanic *skilją (“separation, limit”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to split, cut”). Cognate with Danish skel (“a separation, boundary, divide”), Swedish skäl (“reason”), Dutch verschil (“difference”) and schillen (“to separate the outer layer (schil) from the product”, verb).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).