spay
/speɪ/verb, noun
spay is spelled S-P-A-Y: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, spay means “To destroy or remove the ovaries or uterus (of a female animal) to prevent pregnancy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in spay?
| Letters | 4: S-P-A-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 57,423rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is spay?
Spay appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd 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 spay?
- UK /speɪ/
Spay 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-spay.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with spay
Sounds like: spae (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with spay?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as spay from its last stressed vowel (/eɪ/, British pronunciation):
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 spay
- spays present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- spaying participle, present
- spayed participle, past
- spaie
- spaye
- spey
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spay mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To destroy or remove the ovaries or uterus (of a female animal) to prevent pregnancy.
We’re having our cat spayed as we don’t want her having kittens.
- 2
Alternative form of spae (to foretell or divine)
noun
- 1
The act of spaying an animal.
- 2
rareRare form of spayard.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spay in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense remove the ovaries:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | stériliser |
| German | sterilisieren, kastrieren |
| Spanish | esterilizar |
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 spay come from?
From Middle English spayen, spaien, from the Anglo-Norman espeier, equivalent to the Old French espeer (“to cut with a sword”), from espee (“sword”), whence the Modern French épée.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).