start
/stɑɹt/noun, verb
start is spelled S-T-A-R-T. The wrong spelling people search most is stard: about 140 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 127 of all searches for the word. Start is a noun meaning “The beginning of an activity”. The plural of start is starts.
How many letters and syllables are in start?
| Letters | 5: S-T-A-R-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 363 times per million words; the 250th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, stard, about 140 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| 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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell start?
Start is spelled S-T-A-R-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 126 of the searches for start in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is start?
Start appears 363 times per million words in written English, the 250th 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 start?
- UK /stɑːt/
- US /stɑɹt/
- /stät/
Start 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-start.wav, En-uk-to_start.ogg, En-us-start.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with start?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as start from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹt/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: strat.
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 start
- starts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- sta't
- staht
- starting participle, present
- started participle, past
- more start comparative
- most start superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does start mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The beginning of an activity.
The movie was entertaining from start to finish.
- 2
A sudden involuntary movement.
He woke with a start.
- 3
The beginning point of a race, a board game, etc.
Captured pieces are returned to the start of the board.
- 4
An appearance in a sports game, horserace, etc., from the beginning of the event.
Jones has been a substitute before, but made his first start for the team last Sunday.
- 5
A young plant germinated in a pot to be transplanted later.
- 6
An initial advantage over somebody else; a head start.
to get, or have, the start
- 7
UKarchaicslangA happening or proceeding.
- 8
Alternative letter-case form of Start (“a typical button for video games, originally used to start a game, now also often to pause or choose an option”)
- 9
An instance of starting.
- 10
A projection or protrusion; that which pokes out.
- 11
The curved or inclined front and bottom of a water wheel bucket.
- 12
The arm, or level, of a gin, drawn around by a horse.
verb
- 1
To set in motion.
to start a stream of water; to start a rumour; to start a business
- 2
To begin.
The President fired the gun to start the footrace.
- 3
To ready the operation of a vehicle or machine.
to start the engine
- 4
To put or raise (a question, an objection); to put forward (a subject for discussion).
- 5
To bring onto being or into view; to originate; to invent.
- 6
To have its origin (at), begin.
The speed limit is 50 km/h, starting at the edge of town.
- 7
To jerk, jump up, flinch, or draw back in surprise.
- 8
To awaken suddenly.
noun
- 1
A typical button for video games, originally used to start a game, now also often to pause or choose an option.
noun
- 1
Acronym of simple triage and rapid treatment.
- 2
Alternative form of Start (“a typical button for video games, originally used to start a game, now also often to pause or choose an option”)
adverb
- 1
archaicCompletely, utterly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Start in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | départ, début , commencer, entamer, débuter , démarrer |
| German | Beginn, Anfang , anfangen, beginnen , Ruck , Start |
| Portuguese | começo, início, princípio , sobressalto , largada, partida |
| Spanish | comienzo, inicio, principio , arrancar , respingo , salida |
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 start come from?
From Middle English stert, from the verb sterten (“to start, startle”). See below.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).