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PlainSpell

spot

/spɑt/noun, verb, adjective

spot is spelled S-P-O-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 78 times per million words in written English, the 1,369th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Spot, the name). As a noun, spot means “A round or irregular patch on the surface of a thing having a different color, texture etc. and generally round in shape” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of spot is spots.

How many letters and syllables are in spot?

Letters4: S-P-O-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing78 times per million words; the 1,369th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
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 spot?

Spot appears 78 times per million words in written English, the 1,369th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Spot, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce spot?

  • UK /spɒt/
  • US /spɑt/

Spot 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-spot.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with spot?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as spot from its last stressed vowel (/ɑt/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: stop, post, tops, pots.

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 spot

  • spots plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • spotting participle, present
  • spotted participle, past

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

What does spot mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A round or irregular patch on the surface of a thing having a different color, texture etc. and generally round in shape.

    The leopard is noted for the spots of color in its fur.

  2. 2

    A stain or disfiguring mark.

    I have tried everything, and I can’t get this spot out.

  3. 3

    A pimple, papule or pustule.

    That morning, I saw that a spot had come up on my chin.

  4. 4

    A symbol on a playing card, domino, die, etc. indicating its value; a pip.

  5. 5

    A small, unspecified amount or quantity.

    Do come 'round on Sunday for a spot of tea, won't you?

  6. 6

    USslangA bill of five-dollar or ten-dollar denomination in dollars.

    Here's the twenty bucks I owe you, a ten spot and two five spots.

  7. 7

    A location or area.

    I like to eat lunch in a pleasant spot outside.

  8. 8

    A parking space.

verb

  1. 1

    To see, find; to pick out, notice, locate, distinguish or identify.

    Try to spot the differences between these two pictures.

  2. 2

    USslangTo loan a small amount of money to someone.

    I’ll spot you ten dollars for lunch.

  3. 3

    To stain; to leave a spot (on).

    Hard water will spot if it is left on a surface.

  4. 4

    To cover with spots, to speckle.

  5. 5

    To experience vaginal spotting; to expel blood from the vagina.

  6. 6

    To rain slightly, in scattered, infrequent drops, for example when first beginning to rain.

  7. 7

    To remove, or attempt to remove, a stain.

    I spotted the carpet where the child dropped spaghetti.

  8. 8

    To retouch a photograph on film to remove minor flaws.

adjective

  1. 1

    Available on the spot; for immediate payment or delivery.

    spot wheat

  2. 2

    informalExact; precise.

    The other bus meets yours at the intersection within one minute; it's a spot connection, and you might not make it.

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

Spot in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtache (a round or irregular patch of a different color), bouton (pimple, pustule), peu (small amount), endroit, zone (location or area), détecter (see, pick out, notice or identify)
GermanFleck, Punkt (a round or irregular patch of a different color), Pickel, Pustel (pimple, pustule), Bisschen (small amount), entdecken (see, pick out, notice or identify)
Portuguesemancha (a round or irregular patch of a different color), pouco (small amount), local, ponto (location or area), identificar (see, pick out, notice or identify), lâmpada (bright lamp; spotlight)
Spanishmancha (a round or irregular patch of a different color), grano (pimple, pustule), poquito, poquita (small amount), paraje (location or area), divisar (see, pick out, notice or identify)

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 spot come from?

From Middle English spot, spotte, partially from Middle Dutch spotte (“spot, speck”), and partially merging with Middle English splot, from Old English splott (“spot, plot of land”), from Proto-West Germanic *splott, from Proto-Germanic *spluttaz (“segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *splt-no- (“an off-split, segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to split”).

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

What to look up after spot