speed
/spiːd/noun, interjection, verb
speed is spelled S-P-E-E-D: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 100 times per million words in written English, the 1,076th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, speed means “The state of moving quickly or the capacity for rapid motion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of speed is speeds.
How many letters and syllables are in speed?
| Letters | 5: S-P-E-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 100 times per million words; the 1,076th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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 speed?
Speed appears 100 times per million words in written English, the 1,076th 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 speed?
- /spiːd/
Speed 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-speed.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-speed.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with speed
Also written: speeded.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with speed?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as speed.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: pedes.
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 speed
- speeds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- speeding participle, present
- sped participle, past
- speeded UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does speed mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state of moving quickly or the capacity for rapid motion.
How does Usain Bolt run at that speed?
- 2
The rate of motion or action, specifically the magnitude of the velocity; the rate distance is traversed in a given time.
Speed limits provide information to the drivers about the safe speed to travel in average conditions.
- 3
The sensitivity to light of film, plates or sensor.
- 4
The duration of exposure, the time during which a camera shutter is open (shutter speed).
- 5
The largest size of the lens opening at which a lens can be used.
- 6
The ratio of the focal length to the diameter of a photographic objective.
- 7
slangAmphetamine or any amphetamine-based drug (especially methamphetamine) used as a stimulant, especially illegally.
- 8
archaicLuck, success, prosperity.
interjection
- 1
Called by the soundman when the recording equipment has reached running speed and is ready to go.
verb
- 1
archaicTo succeed; to prosper, be lucky.
18ᵗʰc., Oliver Goldsmith, Introductory to Switzerland At night returning, every labor sped, / He sits him down the monarch of a shed: / Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys, / His children’s looks, that brighten at the blaze;
- 2
archaicTo help someone, to give them fortune; to aid or favour.
God speed, until we meet again.
- 3
To go fast.
The Ferrari was speeding along the road.
- 4
To exceed the speed limit.
Why do you speed when the road is so icy?
- 5
To increase the rate at which something occurs.
- 6
slangTo be under the influence of stimulant drugs, especially amphetamines.
- 7
obsoleteTo be expedient.
- 8
archaicTo hurry to destruction; to put an end to; to ruin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate speed?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of speed: spd.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Speed in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vitesse, rapidité , vitesse d'exposition , speed , foncer |
| German | Schnelligkeit, Geschwindigkeit , Speed , rasen , Filmempfindlichkeit |
| Portuguese | velocidade, rapidez , meta , acelerar |
| Spanish | rapidez, velocidad , andar velozmente , exceder el límite de velocidad |
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 speed come from?
From Middle English sped (“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”), from Old English spēd (“success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdi (“prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōan, from Proto-Germanic *spōaną (“to prosper, succeed, be happy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- (“to prosper, turn out well”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).