staple
/ˈsteɪ.pəl/noun, verb, adjective
staple is spelled S-T-A-P-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, staple means “A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of staple is staples.
How many letters and syllables are in staple?
| Letters | 6: S-T-A-P-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.8 times per million words; the 11,541st 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 staple?
Staple appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st 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 staple?
- US /ˈsteɪ.pəl/
Staple has 2 syllables (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-staple.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with staple?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as staple (/eɪpəl/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: plates, pastel, septal.
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 staple
- staples plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- stapling participle, present
- stapled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does staple mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group.
- 2
Place of supply; source.
- 3
The principal commodity produced in a town or region.
- 4
A basic or essential supply.
Rice is a staple in the diet of many cultures.
- 5
A recurring topic, character, or item.
Lurid stories are a staple of tabloid journalism.
- 6
Short fiber, as of cotton, sheep’s wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread.
Tow is flax with short staple.
- 7
Unmanufactured material; raw material.
- 8
A wire fastener, made of thin wire, used to secure stacks of paper by penetrating all the sheets and curling around.
They stapled the documents with an office stapler, putting a staple in the top left corner of each one.
- 9
A wire fastener, in any of various sizes, used to secure something else by penetrating and curling.
They stapled the housewrap with a staple gun firing large staples.
- 10
A U-shaped wire fastener, made of thick wire, used to attach fence wire or other material to posts or structures.
The rancher used staples to attach the barbed wire to the fence posts.
- 11
One of a set of U-shaped metal rods hammered into a structure, such as a piling or wharf, which serve as a ladder.
Fortunately, there were staples in the quay wall, and she was able to climb out of the water.
- 12
A metal loop used to fasten doors in conjunction with a hasp and a padlock.
- 13
A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.
- 14
A small pit.
- 15
A district granted to an abbey.
verb
- 1
To sort according to its staple.
to staple cotton
- 2
To secure with a staple.
adjective
- 1
Relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities.
a staple town
- 2
Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled.
a staple trade
- 3
Fit to be sold; marketable.
- 4
Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Staple in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | production principale , aliment de base , agrafe , agrafer |
| German | Ausgangsmaterial, Grundversorgung , Grundnahrungsmittel , Heftklammer , heften , Krampe |
| Spanish | producto principal , alimento básico, alimento de primera necesidad , grapa, corchete, presilla |
| Portuguese | grampo , agrafar, grampear , agrafo |
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 staple come from?
From Middle English staple, from Anglo-Norman estaple, Old French estaple (“market, (trading) post”), from Late Latin stapula, from Frankish *stapul, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stapulaz (“post”), from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (“post, stem”). Compare staff. Doublet of étape and etymology 2.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).