subroutine
noun
subroutine is spelled S-U-B-R-O-U-T-I-N-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,129th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, subroutine means “A section of code, called by the main body of a program, that implements a task” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of subroutine is subroutines.
How many letters and syllables are in subroutine?
| Letters | 10: S-U-B-R-O-U-T-I-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,129th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 subroutine?
Subroutine appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,129th 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 subroutine?
- US
Subroutine has 3 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-subroutine.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-subroutine.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of subroutine
- subroutines plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does subroutine mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A section of code, called by the main body of a program, that implements a task.
Holonyms: routine, program, app, application
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate subroutine?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of subroutine: sub.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Subroutine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a section of code:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fonction, procédure, sous-routine |
| German | Funktion, Subroutine, Unterroutine, Prozedur, Unterprogramm |
| Portuguese | sub-rotina |
| Spanish | subrutina |
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 subroutine come from?
From sub- + routine.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).