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PlainSpell

stamp

/stæmp/noun, verb

stamp is spelled S-T-A-M-P: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, stamp means “An act of stamping the foot, paw or hoof” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of stamp is stamps.

How many letters and syllables are in stamp?

Letters5: S-T-A-M-P
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing13 times per million words; the 5,957th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 stamp?

Stamp appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th 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 stamp?

  • /stæmp/

Stamp 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-stamp.ogg, En-uk-stamp.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of stamp

  • stamps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • stamping participle, present
  • stamped participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

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

What does stamp mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    An act of stamping the foot, paw or hoof.

    The horse gave two quick stamps and rose up on its hind legs.

  2. 2

    An indentation, imprint, or mark made by stamping.

    My passport has quite a collection of stamps.

  3. 3

    A device for imprinting designs.

    She loved to make designs with her collection of stamps.

  4. 4

    A small piece of paper, with a design and a face value, used to prepay postage or other dues such as tax or licence fees.

    I need one first-class stamp to send this letter.

  5. 5

    A small piece of paper bearing a design on one side and adhesive on the other, used to decorate letters or craft work.

    These stamps have a Christmas theme.

  6. 6

    slangA tattoo.

  7. 7

    slangA single dose of lysergic acid diethylamide.

  8. 8

    A kind of heavy pestle, raised by water or steam power, for crushing ores.

verb

  1. 1

    To step quickly and heavily, once or repeatedly.

    The toddler screamed and stamped, but still got no candy.

  2. 2

    To move (the foot or feet) quickly and heavily, once or repeatedly.

    The crowd cheered and stamped their feet in appreciation.

  3. 3

    To strike, beat, or press forcibly with the bottom of the foot, or by thrusting the foot downward.

  4. 4

    To mark by pressing quickly and heavily.

    This machine stamps the metal cover with a design.

  5. 5

    To give an official marking to, generally by impressing or imprinting a design or symbol.

    The immigration officer stamped my passport.

  6. 6

    To apply postage stamps to.

    I forgot to stamp this letter.

  7. 7

    To mark; to impress.

    , Book IV, Chapter X God […] has stamped no original characters on our minds wherein we may read his being.

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

Stamp in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanstampfen (act of stamping), Stempel (indentation or imprint made by stamping), stempeln (to give an official marking to), freimachen (to apply postage stamps to)
Portuguesepisada (act of stamping), carimbo (indentation or imprint made by stamping), carimbar (to give an official marking to), adesivo (any small piece of paper bearing a design on…), timbrar, estampar (to mark by pressing quickly and heavily)
Spanishestampado, timbrado (act of stamping), sello (indentation or imprint made by stamping), timbrar (to give an official marking to), cuño, troquel (device for stamping designs)
Frenchcachet (indentation or imprint made by stamping), timbre (any small piece of paper bearing a design on…), estamper (to mark by pressing quickly and heavily), tampon (device for stamping designs), taper du pied (to step quickly and heavily), taper (du pied) (to move (the foot or feet) quickly and heavily)

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 stamp come from?

From Middle English stampen (“to pound, crush”), from assumed Old English *stampian, variant of Old English stempan (“to crush, pound, pound in mortar, stamp”), from Proto-West Germanic *stampōn, *stampijan, from Proto-Germanic *stampōną, *stampijaną (“to trample, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *stemb- (“to trample down”).

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

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