spending
spend·ing/ˈspɛndɪŋ/noun, verb
spending is spelled S-P-E-N-D-I-N-G: 8 letters and 2 syllables (spend·ing). It appears 51 times per million words in written English, the 1,993rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, spending means “An amount that has been, or is planned to be spent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of spending is spendings.
How many letters and syllables are in spending?
| Letters | 8: S-P-E-N-D-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: spend·ing |
| In writing | 51 times per million words; the 1,993rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is spending?
Spending appears 51 times per million words in written English, the 1,993rd 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 spending?
- /ˈspɛndɪŋ/
Spending has 2 syllables, split spend·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-spending.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of spending
- spendings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spending mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
gerund of spend, expenditure.
- 2
An amount that has been, or is planned to be spent.
excessive spendings
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of spend
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does spending come from?
From Middle English spendyng, spendynge, from Old English spendung (“spending”), equivalent to spend + -ing. Cognate with German Spendung (“contribution, donation”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).