survey
/ˈsɝˌveɪ/noun, verb
survey is spelled S-U-R-V-E-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is survay: about 250 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 227 of all searches for the word. Survey is a noun meaning “The act of surveying; a general view”. The plural of survey is surveys.
How many letters and syllables are in survey?
| Letters | 6: S-U-R-V-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 49 times per million words; the 2,072nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, survay, about 250 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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).
How do you spell survey?
Survey is spelled S-U-R-V-E-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 227 of the searches for survey 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 survey?
Survey appears 49 times per million words in written English, the 2,072nd 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 survey?
- UK /ˈsɜːveɪ/
- UK /sɜːˈveɪ/
- US /ˈsɝˌveɪ/
As a verb (“To inspect, or take a view of; to view with attention, as…”): /səˈveɪ/, /sɜːˈveɪ/, /ˈsɜːveɪ/.
Survey 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-survey_(noun).wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-survey_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of survey
- surveys plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- surveying participle, present
- surveyed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does survey mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of surveying; a general view.
- 2
A particular view; an examination, especially an official examination, of a particular group of items, in order to ascertain the condition, quantity, or quality.
A survey of the stores of a ship; a survey of roads and bridges; a survey of buildings.
- 3
The operation of finding the contour, dimensions, position, or other particulars of any part of the Earth's surface.
- 4
A measured plan and description of any portion of country.
The owners of the adjoining plots had conflicting surveys.
- 5
An examination of the opinions and/or information of a group of people.
The local council conducted a survey of its residents to help it decide whether to go ahead with the roadside waste collection service.
- 6
A questionnaire or similar instrument used for examining the opinions and/or information of a group of people.
I just filled out that survey on roadside waste pick-up.
- 7
An auction at which a farm is let for a lease for lives.
- 8
USA district for the collection of customs under a particular officer.
verb
- 1
To inspect, or take a view of; to view with attention, as from a high place; to overlook
He stood on a hill, and surveyed the surrounding country.
- 2
To view with a scrutinizing eye; to examine.
- 3
To examine with reference to condition, situation, value, etc.; to examine and ascertain the state of
It was his job to survey buildings in order to determine their value and risks.
- 4
To determine the form, extent, position, etc., of, as a tract of land, a coast, harbor, or the like, by means of linear and angular measurements, and the application of the principles of geometry and trigonometry
to survey land or a coast
- 5
To examine and ascertain, as the boundaries and royalties of a manor, the tenure of the tenants, and the rent and value of the same.
- 6
To investigate the opinions, experiences, etc., of people by asking them questions; to conduct a survey; to administer a questionnaire.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate survey?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of survey: surv, svy..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Survey in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sondage, enquête , arpentage, reconnaissance , inspecter , sonder |
| German | Umfrage , untersuchen, inspizieren , Untersuchung , Vermessung , überblicken |
| Portuguese | sondagem , supervisão , inspecionar , levantamento, enquete , levantamento topográfico |
| Spanish | sondeo , encuesta , campaña topográfica, levantamiento topográfico , atalayar, otear |
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 survey come from?
From Middle English surveyen, from Old French sourveoir, surveer (“to oversee”), from sour-, sur- (“over”) + veoir, veeir (“to see”), from Latin videre. See sur- and vision. Related to supervision.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).